Otonokizaka Academy for Talented Youth
by ShawtyItEli
Summary: In Otonokizaka, only the most talented students in the world are allowed acceptance into the highly respected school. But as of the moment, the school is completely divided into three different divisions: Lily White, Rose Red, and the Tulips. And the conflict between these groups run far deeper then some simple school values. NozoEli, KotoUmi, NicoMaki, and HonoPana. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING INCLUDING THE LOVE LIVE FRANCHISE. THAT BEING CHARACTERS, SONGS, PLACES, OR ANYTHING THAT INVOVLES THE COMPANY NAME OR ANIME ITSELF.**_

 **Summary:** **Otonokizaka Academy is a prestigous school. You can only get in if you excel at a particular subject or event withtin the school. As of the moment, the school is completely divided into three different divisions: Lily White, Rose Red, and the Tulips. But the conflict between these groups run far deeper then some simple school values. NozoEli, KotoUmi, NicoMaki, and possible HonoPana.**

 **WARNING, CHARACTERS MAY BE OOC**

 _Speed._

 _Adrenaline. Breathe in, and breathe out._

 _Light pace at first, then full out sprint._

 _Breathe._

 _There is no pain in your legs._

 _There is no heaviness in your chest._

 _Breathe._

 _Just breathe._

Rin sprinted down the track, crossing the finish line for a second time as she forced her legs to move faster.

The crisp morning air filled the track star's lungs as she worked along efficiently, already nearing her third lap. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she narrowed down on her goal.

She was the only one outside, which was expected. It was only five o'clock in the morning, giving Rin plenty of time to herself as she continued down the track at a extremely fast pace.

It was still a little dark out, but it wasn't like she would be seeing anybody anyways. The car ride to the local park had been quick, due to the lack of other people on the roads.

The only thing that could be heard at the underpopulated track was Rin's breathing and the impact of her foot hitting the ground. There were no bird's chirping, besides the loud cries of the pestering crows, but otherwise there was nothing that enticed the ear. Nothing important to the human mind.

Rin slowed down her pace as she reached lap seven, forcing herself to finish as she crossed on through. Instinctively she rested her head against her hands, taking deep breaths to rehabilitate her physically exhausted body.

Sweat dripped down her forehead, and after she had regained the ability to breathe without gasping for air, she wiped it off with her left hand. She walked over to her water bottle, legs a little sore, and picked it up. She brought it to her lips, chugging down half the bottle before she set it back down.

Rin walked around the track for the last time. This was merely a cool down lap, she usually used it to clear her thoughts and think about her day.

She really didn't have much going on. Since it was summer vacation, it meant there was no school so she had the whole day to herself, as per usual. Her aunt, the woman she was currently living with, would be back home from a business trip in a matter of days. Rin would definitely have to clean up the house and restock the fridge.

A smile appeared on Rin's face as memories of her aunt filled her head. She was like a mother figure to Rin, since her mother had died when she was really young and her father had left her to rot. Her aunt, her fathers sister, had taken her in and had taken great care of her.

Rin wouldn't have had it any other way.

After finishing her lap, she headed towards her car and swiftly slipped in to the driver's seat, setting her water bottle down in a cup holder. Her left hand clutched the wheel while her right inserted the key, revving the engine.

She pulled out of the small parking lot and pulled out back onto the road. It was now more busy, a few early birds heading out, or others just going to work.

It wasn't long before she pulled into the drive way of the average sized home. Rin would think that being a track protege would give her big bucks, but she was merely still in high school. She hadn't struck at rich quite yet.

The track star entered the empty home, whistling to herself as she walked up to her room, discarding her clothes. She put on a robe and entered the washroom, taking a quick shower before adorning casual attire.

As she entered the small kitchen, her eyes flicked towards the clock. It was almost seven o'clock, and gave Rin plenty of time to have fun throughout the day.

She grinned excitedly as she poured herself a bowl of cereal, thoughts about what to do racing through her mind. She was thinking about going to the arcade, but decided against it since she had just been there a few days prior.

After preparing the easy meal, she carried the bowl to the living room and took a seat on the couch. She switched on the television and changed it to a random channel, watching the show disinterestedly as she was still thinking about what to do.

A knock on the door startled her from her thoughts.

She wasn't expecting any visitors, especially at this time in the morning, but when a letter landed on the mat in front of the door, Rin realized it was just the mail.

She paused her show and walked over to the door, puzzled by the letter. She didn't recognize the writing, yet it was addressed to her.

Rin walked back over to the couch, settling down as she anxiously looked over the letter. With excited hands she tore through the envelope, pulling out a slip of paper inside. She ditched the envelope and instantly opened up the folded note.

Rin nearly doubled over after looking over the contents.

"No way in hell..." She trailed off, her yellowy green eyes filled with confusion and anger as she felt herself reading over the words multiple times. They were just words, so why did they matter so much?

But the fact that they were just words was what mattered.

 _Dear Rin Hoshizora,_

 _Sorry for the formality, I'm just not exactly sure how to write this._

 _Anyways, if you haven't forgotten me, it's me. Your dad._

 _...Sorry if this seems a little awkward, I'm just not exactly sure on how to deal with this situation._

 _The reason I'm sending you this letter is because I want to amend the awful mistakes I've made. I can't believe I missed seventeen years of my own child's life because I was too ignorant and idiotic to see I wasn't the only one suffering._

 _Words cannot describe how sorry I am for leaving you. I am extremely thankful that Kyoko took you in. I don't know what could have happened if she didn't._

 _I know that you must hate me. I do not blame you at all, what I did was awful and it is something that should never be forgiven. That is why I am here, asking for your forgiveness._

 _I am not expecting anything too soon, so I hope you don't feel required to forgive me just because I am your father. That title means nothing, for it is just a title._

 _I will be visiting in a few days, because through my depression I left my whole family behind. I am hoping that we can talk, or at least I can see you._

 _Anyways, that's all I have to say for now. I hope we can talk in more detail when I arrive. I will be there in five days, so escape while you can...Sorry I shouldn't be making jokes._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Ryuuji Hoshizora_

"What..." Rin mumbled to herself, looking over the words for the final time before she closed her eyes. "What the hell am I supposed to say to this?!" She was screaming to anybody in particular, but she wasn't sure what else to do.

Instantaneously she shredded the paper in her hands, small remains drifting to the ground before they landed on the hardwood floor. She clutched her head as she tried to make sense of the situation, tears filling her eyes as she held back the urge to sob.

A gross feeling filled her stomach, nothing alike the rush of running. It was unfamiliar to her, and she had no means of knowing what it was for nobody every told her what it was.

She felt her bones shaking as she desperately tried to hold onto reality, feeling herself fading away as she thought over the words of the note over and over again. All emotions were getting jammed in her throat. Rin tried her best to force them back down, but eventually they broke through as irregular noises came out of Rin's mouth.

It scared her.

She was scaring herself.

Rin curled into the couch, salty tears dripping down her cheeks before they fell onto the pillow she was currently clutching. Her knuckles were turning white as she held the soft item tightly, wanting to forget the previous events.

The track star wasn't too sure about how long she had sat on that couch and cried for. It was as if time had become irrelevant, a mere unimportant attribute of life as dark emotions forced their way into Rin, cascading all goodness and happiness.

Her dad was absolutely right. She needed to escape.

Frantically she sprinted up to her room, catching herself from stumbling as sobs continued to slip out of her mouth. She tumbled into her room, darting towards her laptop that sat on a wooden desk.

She opened the screen, a display appearing. Her hands found themselves familiarized with the keyboard as her fingers moved quickly. She wasn't too sure about what her plan was, but she was going to do anything to get out of there.

Rin thought about just purchasing a plane ticket and flying somewhere, but then she would be stranded off somewhere she didn't know. And she still wasn't even considered an adult, so there wasn't really too much she could do freely.

Maybe she could just move in with another relative. But that would never work. She never kept contact with her mom's side of the family, and her grandparents certainly weren't capable of supplying Rin with her needs. Plus they lived in the same area anyways, so that would do her no good.

The runner slammed her head against her desk, trying to think of solutions to the sudden problem. There wasn't too much she could do in this situation.

 _Wait_.

Rin quickly typed the words 'Otonokizaka Academy' in the search bar.

The prestigious high school only accepted students with natural raw talent that far surpassed any other students who engaged in the same activities. In other words, geniuses.

Rin was no genius, but she knew that her running talents could easily get her into the academy. No sweat.

The school was rather expensive, but Rin hoped that she could score a scholarship, yet she wouldn't be shocked if she did. She was one of the best young runners in Japan.

The rest of the money would come out of Rin's savings for university.

The online registration was different to normal schools. Since there were rarely any transfers to the school, it was much easier to get in, even if you were very late like Rin was.

She would need to send in her birth certificate, her most recent report card, a student profile, the legal residency of her garden-that being her aunt-and other things that Rin didn't quite understand. She was a runner, not the bright crayon in the box.

Rin leaned back into her chair, trying to collect her thoughts as all she could do was wait for her aunt and pray that she could get into Otonokizaka.

They had a dormitory that she could stay in, and she hoped that her dad would get the clue that she was not ready to see him.

Maybe this was drastic measures, but Rin's conscious was clouded by fear and worry.

She was already far gone.

 _Amai Fruits dance dandan rizumu kawaru_

 _Isoide yo_

 _Ne watashi no koto o mitete_

 _Tsukamaenakucha furimukanai wa_

 _Oikake raretai_

 _Dakedo iwanai dakedo ienai_

An unknown tune.

Rin hummed to herself lightly as she sat in the leather seats of the limousine. The track star really should have expected something like this to happen, but it was still hard to get used to.

Her fingers uncomfortably toyed around with her black tie, already not liking the fact that they had to wear a school uniform. A white button up with a tie, as previously stated. Rin hadn't done up the buttons, she felt to need to. Black jeans finished off the clean look.

She sat alone in the car, the only other presence being the driver. Her thoughts were the only thing to keep her occupied, different images and ideas of what the school could possibly be like popping up in her head like wildfire.

The runner ran a anxious hand through her short orange hair, taking a deep breath.

 _Breathe in, breathe out._

This was normal to Rin. Breathing was one of the most important part of running. If you had poor stamina you would never make it past three laps without extreme difficulty.

Of course Rin also had to owe her talent to her genes. She hated her father, but at least he had something to pass down to her.

Her slim body and long legs made her agile, and she had natural instincts that kicked in when she needed them most. Rin liked to think of herself as a member of the Matrix crew. Of course, without the whole... Well maybe not the Matrix.

After a while of driving, the limo pulled into a rode that Rin didn't recognize. Well, she didn't recognize the majority of the things she was seeing, but this road seemed to lead away from civilization.

The cemented roads transformed into gravel over time as they had somehow ended up in a forest like area. Rin wasn't too afraid. If the time came, she could run way faster then everybody else.

The limousine approached a clearing that had trees outlining the large area. In the center was the school.

It was overwhelmingly large in size, obviously trying to show off what had been funded into the underpopulated educational building.

In the center was a stone path that stopped at stairs, leading into the building. Surrounding it was tall lamp posts that currently weren't lit. Small trees were also planted in the green grass, clearly they took care of their greenery.

The school was formed in a U shape, and it felt like they were wrapping around Rin, constraining her. There was only a door in the main part of the school, though, so she would have to always go through there to reach the other parts of the school.

The roof was layered, and in color, it was a dark gray. On top of the of the roof there was a white cylinder shape jutting out, with small windows. It seemed large enough to fit a few people.

After moments of sizing up the school, Rin finally noticed the driver who opened the door, politely waiting for her.

"Ah, sorry." She apologized automatically, exiting the vehicle with a nod towards the driver. He nodded as well in response and informed Rin to just enter the school, there would be somebody expecting her.

The track star thanked him again and began her walk down the stone path. She jogged up the stairs easily grabbed the handle of the door with her left hand, opening it in one swift motion.

As Rin expected, the halls were empty. There were no noises of excited chatter about the first day of school. Everyone was probably in their classroom. After all, there were only forty students attending Otonokizaka.

There were two girls who were standing next to each other, chattering aimlessly. Actually, it was more like one girl was a total chatter box while the other one nodded and giggled.

After a few moments of just staring at them, the two girls finally noticed her. The taller one dashed over to her, causing Rin to almost jump back in defense.

"Hey, are you Hosohero Rin?" The girl asked, a grin plastered across her face. You could feel the energy emanating from her being and she seemed to be holding her self back.

"It's Hoshizora."

"Hoshizora what?"

"My last name."

"Oh..." The girl chuckled awkwardly for a few seconds before her demeanor went back to the constantly moving one. It started to annoy Rin slightly, since the girl always had to be moving, whether that be a finger or her whole body.

"My name is Kousaka Honoka, but you can just call me Honoka!" Honoka said, flashing a thumbs up to Rin who just raised her eyebrow. "The girl who had made no move to include herself in the conversation is Hanayo!" Rin wasn't sure if Honoka was trying to insult the smaller girl, but it didn't seem like it as she wrapped one of her hands around the girl's soldier.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hoshizora. I hear that you are a very talented runner, so it is a pleasure to see you in person." The girl spoke in a quite tone, and it was hard to Rin's hearing, but she was able to pick up almost every word.

"Nice to meet the both of you. You can just call me Rin." Rin insisted, adjusting her tie automatically. Always keep up appearances, is what her aunt taught her. She was also told her dad was quite the slob, which her aunt always reminded Rin in a laughing tone.

Rin closed her eyes as thoughts of her father filled her mind. He was the reason she was here now, so there as no need to give him a second thought.

"Anyways," Honoka's voice brought Rin back to reality as she blinked a few times to digest the situation. "School stars in thirty minutes. It begins with a quick opening ceremony, and then you will be choosing your flower." Honoka explained.

 _My flower?_ Rin thoughts, not reading anything about plants in the school directory. She ran another anxious hand through her hair. She was never nervous, not even for a big race, since she always screamed cockiness and confidence. But now the track star screamed anxiety and apprehension.

Hanayo must have noticed Rin's expression.

"The flower is one of the most important factors of the tone," Hanayo began, her voice quite. Rin almost felt like the girl was trying to escape from her, because half of her body was hidden behind Honoka who payed no mind to the smaller girl's antics. "There are three different divisions: Lily White, Rose Red, and The Tulips. Rose Red and Lily White are the two most popular divisions, Rose Red is...What's a good word for it...?" Hanayo thought aloud, her face expressing a puzzled complexion as she scratched her chin thoughtfully. Honoka took the opportunity to butt in.

"I use the word leader, since that is what they are. Each division is sort of like it's own democracy, they vote a leader each year who takes control of that side of the school. They fight for what each division should have, sort of like an individual student council." Honoka tried to explain, and Rin sort of got it.

"So they are rep's for their own division?" Rin asked, and Honoka brightened.

"Yes, rep is a good word for it. They orchestrate different events and activities for their division. Each division sort of 'owns' a different part of the school. Like the Lilies often hang out outside while the Roses prefer to stick inside." Honoka explained further. Rin tried to wrap her head around the idea. There had been nothing about 'flowers' on the website or the news about the school.

"It's like your home class. Whatever division you choose is the division you will be doing classes with, just like any homeroom." Hanayo said, trying to dial down the whole idea.

"Okay, so what about The Tulips?" Rin asked, not hearing anything about that group.

Honoka grinned widely at this.

"That's the group Hanayo and I are in!" Honoka cheered, waving her hands in the air. Hanayo averted her eyes as she nodded, acknowledging and confirming the fact that what Honoka had just said was true.

"Tulips is a little different then the other two groups. We are far less popular, we don't really have any area to our selves, our textbooks and work are bad in compared to the Lilies and Roses. They usually get all the good stuff." Hanayo explained, a tinge of bitterness in her voice. Hanayo didn't seem to be a girl who was easily angered, so Rin assumed that the Tulips were under appreciated.

"Tulips deal with all the background stuff, like fixing up school problems. We're kind of like the underpaid handymen." Even though it was such a sad statement, Honoka seemed like she was happy with that fact.

"Well, you don't seem to mind." Rin blurted out her thoughts. She didn't regret it though, since Honoka didn't seem to mind yet again.

"Well... The Lilies and the Roses are always fighting. They really hate each other, and nobody really knows why. So Honoka and I choose Tulips so we could just stay out of it." Hanayo explained as realization dawned on Rin's face.

"So you sacrificed comfort for freedom?" Rin confirmed.

"Bingo!" Honoka clapped, patting Rin on the back. Suddenly her eyes darted away, and Rin followed them to see she was looking at a clock. "Oh no, we don't have too much time left! Let's get going!" Honoka yelped, grabbing Rin and Hanayo's hands and dragging them forcefully down the hall.

"Somebody save me!" Rin heard the normally quiet girl yell as she raised her eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Rin's question went unnoticed.

The tour had been quick.

Honoka had spoke in a rapid tongue, making it almost impossible to make sense of what she was saying, but Rin had taken a few things out of the speedy tour.

The Roses had it best. Their dorm was far larger then the other two, even though there were only eighteen students in the dorm. They couldn't go inside, since Hanayo and Honoka were Tulips and Rin hadn't chosen a flower yet, but Honoka informed the track star of all the amazing things residing in the building.

Hot tubs, pools, their own restaurant. Rin couldn't decipher what exactly was true and false, but that didn't mean she was any less uninterested. Rin didn't want to have to deal with the snobby uptight nature of the Roses.

She was told that the Lilies were far more laid back. Their dorm was still large in size, but not as regal and over-endearing. The colors were pastel and calming, and Rin almost thought that for a few seconds it was just a band of hippies, but Hanayo had dispelled those thoughts.

They had a steam room, and a small cafeteria that was still as high class as the restaurant with a more calm feel to it. Sixteen students resided in that dorm.

The poor, poor Tulips.

Their dorm was sad in comparison too the two towering dormitories next to it. It was small, tiny even, and had cracks in the paint. The only thing they had in terms of entertainment was a small game room. There were no hot tubs or pools, just a shower room.

Only six students were Tulips.

SIX

"This is hardly fair, what about the whole budget they poured into this school? What about the amazing education and all that other crap?" Rin mumbled angrily, but Honoka was able to catch what she said.

"Originally there was only the Roses and the Lilies, so that was where most of the money went into. When somebody decided to form the Tulips, the school board didn't want to have to put money in to it, so the Tulips had to raise the majority of the money on their own. This building used to be the wood shop before it was integrated into the school building, so they cleaned it up to turn it into a functional dorm." Honoka explained sadly, her feet tapping against one another. She was still moving.

The tour was soon over, and Rin had no doubt in her mind on what she was going to do. It was pretty obvious, but Honoka and Hanayo seemed to be convinced that Rin would join the Lilies, which seemed to compliment Rin's laid back and easy attitude.

"Well, we should head to the gymnasium. That's where the ceremony is going to be held." Hanayo reminded, checking her watch for the umpteenth time.

"Good thinking Hanayo!" Honoka said loudly, patting the girl on the back before she began her march back to the school, expecting the other two to follow.

"She's got an interesting personality." Rin commented. Hanayo shrugged, an odd expression on her face.

"Yeah..." That was all that was needed to be said.

When Rin entered the gymnasium, she felt all the attention shift directly to her. It didn't bother Rin for a split second, Hanayo had told her to expect this.

They looked at her as if she was some kind of alien species, trying to pinpoint her down. Rin held back the urge to roll her eyes as she took a seat next to Hanayo and Honoka in the Tulips area.

The Roses and the Lilies sat in the stands, completely cut off from one another. They barely seemed to acknowledge each others presence, let alone the presence of the Tulips, who seemed to be completely ignored as if they were nothing.

Soon the Roses and Lilies left Rin alone as she settled into her spot on the riser, thinking to herself while Honoka chatted aimlessly to her companion. She could feel the Tulips gaze's on her back, but she didn't really care.

The track star brushed her hair out of her eyes as she watched a woman walk out into the middle of the gym, facing the small gathering of students. She held a microphone in her hand, and Rin assumed that she was Principal Minami, as she recognized the lady from the school website.

It wasn't long before she cleared her throat, immediately attracting the attention of all of the students.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the first day of the new year at Otonokizaka Academy for Talented Youth!" Cheers and claps sounded through they gymnasium as Rin clutched her ears so she wouldn't have to hear Honoka _screaming_ next to her. "As I always say, every single child in the world is unique. But you few are especially different, since you are able to excel in something that far surpasses the normal capacity that somebody could typically achieve, so feel thankful and proud of each one of your gifts."

The principal started talking about the different goals and expectations of the school, and that was when Rin zoned out. She didn't really mean to, she just didn't have the best attention span.

Honoka seemed to be suffering the same problem, Rin noticed, but Hanayo was attentive as ever. Rin cracked a small smirk, she would just have Hanayo summarize all the important things Principal Minami said afterwards.

Her eyes wandered over to the Rose Red members, who all were wearing something that Rin hadn't noticed when she had walked in. Brooches were attached to their shirts in the shape of roses. They seemed to be expertly made, with precision and utmost professionalism.

She looked towards the Lily Whites too see if they had brooches too, which in fact they did, in the shape of lilies. They were well made as well.

But it seemed like the Tulips had the short end of the stick yet again. They weren't wearing any brooches at all, there was nothing that made them unique in comparison. It almost made Rin forget she had any talent at all.

This thought sparked her interest. What exactly was everybody's talent? Rin surely hadn't forgotten, or thought, that she was the only talented person there. That would be ignorant.

But ultimately, Rin had. She looked at Honoka, trying to piece together what exactly her talent could be. Her hand was tapping quietly against the riser seat, and if Rin looked closely enough, she could see that her body was rocking gently back and forth, very slightly.

Rin wasn't sure how to describe it. Honoka was definitely different. At first Rin just thought Honoka didn't care to listen, alike to Rin herself, but it seemed more like she was really struggling to pay attention, but she just couldn't.

"Honoka?" Rin whispered, tapping the girl lightly on the shoulder. The girl hadn't heard her, so Rin repeated herself a few times, but there was still no response.

Rin pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a breath as she decided just to leave the situation alone. There was no reason to pry.

"Hoshizora Rin?" The principal's voice grabbed Rin's attention. She blinked before looking at Principal Minami, who was motioning for Rin to come join her.

The track star held back a groan and set over to the principal nonchalantly, and all the attention was refocused onto her. She stood next to the principal while two people, Rin suspected they were teachers, carried out a small fold up table in front of Rin. After that, two items were placed onto the table. On the left side, a single rose, on the right side, a bouquet of lilies.

"As you all know, this is our newest student, Hoshizora Rin. She is a very talented runner, and is one of the best young athletes in Japan." The students clapped, and Rin could tell is was mostly out of habit, but she couldn't stop the rush of pride that coursed through her body. She was Hoshizora, one of the best runners ever.

"At this time, I would request that Ayase Eli and Toujou Nozomi please come to the front. Hoshizora-san, if you could please take a seat?" Rin nodded, sitting back down next to Hanayo and Honoka, confused on why she even went up in the first place.

Two girls walked up to Principal Minami, each being from a different division. They exchanged cold glares before they stood on either side of the principal.

"They sure are friendly." Rin mumbled under her breath as she rested her head on her hand. She decided to pay attention this time around, this seemed important.

Principal Minami handed the microphone to the blonde girl first. Rin was annoyed by her cold blue eyes and her prideful stature, this girl was clearly a Rose. The girl glanced at Rin for a few seconds, the most fake warm smile ever adorning her face.

But all the Rose Red's seemed to be sucked up to it as they watched the girl like a hawk.

 _This is Ayase Eli, leader of the Rose Red's_.

"Good morning, Otonokizaka Academy. It's a pleasure to see you all again for the start of the year, and I hope that together we can have a successful year filled with prosperity and happiness." Eli began, bowing down respectfully to the students. The Rose's clapped respectfully, and Rin could see out of the corner of her eyes that the Lilies representative had rolled her eyes disdainfully.

So... They sure weren't friends.

"Hoshizora-san, I want to welcome you wholeheartedly to this school. It may seem a little intimidating at first, but I assure you that after a few days you will find yourself settled in. Of course, only if you choose Rose Red." Eli added at the end, a smirk appearing on her face for a split second as her eyes darted to the Lily girl. "I know that you have already received a tour of the school by two volunteers," Rin almost scowled at the fact that they totally overlooked the Tulips. "And I hope that you took a good look at the Rose Red dormitory. I would like to say that our dorm is respectable, and has plenty of different sources of entertainment. The students are also very warm and welcoming, so do not be mistaken by our appearances." Rin smiled, and she was sure that Eli had mistaken it for a look of approval, but really Rin was just biting her tongue so she wouldn't laugh.

"I will now be passing off the microphone to... _My friend over here_...So Hoshizora-san, I hope you choose to be a part of Rose Red!" Eli finished, and more claps could be heard from the Rose Red's. A respectable group, a tight knit group, a snobby group.

 _This is Toujou Nozomi, leader of the Lily White's._

Eli passed the microphone disdainfully off to the shorter girl next to her. Nozomi had beautiful violet hair that was tied into two lose, low twin tails. She snatched the microphone and had a playful smile on her face as she held the mic to her lips.

"Hello all, my name is Toujou Nozomi, and I am a part of the division Lily White." Loud cheers came from the Lilies, sharply different to the Rose Red's. This was more Rin's style. Nozomi laughed lightly at the antics of the Lilies. "Yes, we are a little more rowdy, but don't worry, we aren't too overwhelming~." Nozomi joked, a smile on her face that seemed more genuine then Eli's.

"Hoshizora, I want to speak on the behalf of my fellow Lilies, in that we genuinely hope that you choose our group. We may not be as high class as the Roses, but we feel as if we are a little more comfortable, focusing more on genuine emotion then using commercial items to acquire friendship~." Rin felt herself chuckle lightly at the jab as the Lilies laughed as well. Eli's face went red, and Rin could tell she was holding her self back from lashing out.

Nozomi continued her speech, but not without a few extra jabs, which seemed to be getting more and more aimed at Eli herself rather then the Rose Red group themselves. This made Rin a little uneasy while the rest of the Lilies laughed.

 _So it seems like the leaders really hate each other personally, not just by association._ Rin thought as she scratched her head, pretending to still be being attention to whatever Nozomi was saying.

"Anyways, I hope you make the decision based on your morals and your beliefs. Thank you very much for your time." Nozomi bowed as well, and the Lilies clapped loudly as Rin absentmindedly clapped along with them, also out of requirement.

Principal Minami took back the mic as the two representatives were asked to go back to their seats. The whole walk back Eli was shooting daggers at Nozomi who had a playful smirk on her face, clearly happy with her work.

"A-Anyways," The principal wasn't to sure how to act after the events prior. "Hoshizora-san, please come up and choose your flower. Please remember that this choice will affect your whole time here at Otonokizaka, and once you make your decision, it cannot be changed." Principal Minami reminded cautiously. Rin merely nodded as she walked up, not without a pat on the back from Honoka and a 'good luck' from Hanayo.

The track star walked up to the table and looked at the flowers in front of her. Turns out that there was a tulip, a pink one, that was now set in the middle of the two other flowers. Rin concluded that it was placed there while the representatives were dong their speeches.

 _Ironic that it is right in the middle._

Rin could feel everybody's gaze on her as the students watched in apprehension of her choice. The girl swallowed nervously, rushing an anxious hand through her hair.

 _Wait just a minute, I'm Hoshizora Rin for hell's sake!_ She took a deep breath, and looked over her choices.

 _Jaa, nee?_

 _Kuro tto kuro tto kuro tto mawarou_

 _Kuro tto kuro tto odoroyo_

Rin flicked her eyes up to see Honoka and Hanayo looking at her expectantly, wondering what choice she was going to make. It was obvious for Rin, but everyone seemed to think that they had her figured out.

Rin closed her eyes and smirked, wanting to roll her eyes at the density of some people as she reached her hand, already knowing exactly what to do.

When she reopened her eyes, she was clutching the pink tulip, and a single gasp could be heard in the audience.

"I, Hoshizora Rin, choose The Tulips." Rin held back her laughter at the complete silence. Everybody was shell shocked, immediately surprised by her decision. Nobody had joined The Tulips in a long time.

Nobody had transferred to Otonokizaka in a long time.

Honoka seemed to take it upon herself to cheer loudly for The Tulips, and soon the rest of them joined in an extremely loud cheers and whoops that could be heard through the whole gymnasium. The only person you couldn't hear was Hanayo, but Rin knew she was still cheering.

"And I would like to run for Tulips representative." Yes, this was a new day for The Tulips. They would not be doing the dirty work, they would be dishing out the dirty work. They would be respected. They would be in charge.

And the feud between Rose Red and Lily White would end.

Yes, Rin was going to take it upon herself. For that was the opportunity presented to her.

 **And that is the first chapter! Yes, this may be a little different then what we're used to here in Love Live Fanfiction.**

 **First, the idea. The idea is loosely based off of the game Princess Evangile where this guy transfers to a co-ed school and it is divided into two sides, White Lilies and the other name I forget but it has something to do with roses XD.**

 **I choose it to be a school for the talented youth because that way there wouldn't be too many characters too deal with, and there would be a way for Rin to get in easily. Plus I just liked the idea orz**

 **So, let's get started with the questions I'm expecting.**

 **What's up with Rin-chan?**

 **Yes, what is up with Rin. She no longer meows, she is more badass, and she is no longer the second hand Honoka. How could I do such a thing to the amazing Rin?**

 **Just so you guys know, Rin is my favorite character. I love her, and I love RinPana, so what exactly am I doing here?**

 **I could make Honoka the main character and still have her be badass, but I wanted it to be Rin, because I needed Honoka to be her original character still. Rin was expendable, so I decided to make her into a new and improved Rin. But don't worry, there will be things about nya and stuff, so don't worry!**

 **What's up with Rin's relationship with her dad?**

 **It's probably pretty obvious at this point, but her mother is dead and her dad left her at a young age. I think I went over it in this chapter, so hopefully I didn't spoil too much.**

 **Is Romance not the main thing here, because that's why I'm reading.**

 **Ouch.**

 **Haha, jk. I wouldn't say Romance is the MAIN thing, but it is definitley a key factor and very important part of the storyline. Rin will not be involved in romance most likely, and neither will Honoka and Hanayo, but there will most DEFINITLEY be NozoEli, NicoMaki, and KotoUmi. I have already come up with the backstories for each of their relationships so they are guranteed.**

 **Is it only going to be in Rin's POV?**

 **No, there will be different point of views throughout the story. Rin is the "main character" but the point of views will fluctate. Hint hint the next chapter is Eli's pov**

 **What's up with Honoka?**

 **You will see...hehehehehehe.**

 **Oh, and if you know what song that is, tell me in the review section :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Eli laid on her bed, a frown apparent on her face.

She was currently throwing a rubber ball against the ceiling before catching it and repeating the process. Different thoughts ran through her mind as she thought over Nozomi's speech, her words still evident in her mind.

Out of frustration, Eli tossed the ball as hard as she could against the ceiling, resulting in the ball bouncing off and hitting her in the face. She cried out in pain and clutched her face with both her hands, her face going red in embarrassment.

"What the hell is wrong with me...?" Eli mumbled to herself before rising from her bed. Her face still stung a bit, but it was nothing intolerable.

She looked around her dorm room. The walls were painted a rose red color, in dedication to her division of course. There was a small nightstand next to her bed, but otherwise the room was barren. It was simple, yet clean, just like Eli preferred it.

The Rose Red representative clutched the handle of her door, intending on exiting, before her thoughts ultimately rolled back to the events a few hours prior.

To say she was shocked at the new girl's decision would be an understatement. Rose Red had so much to offer, while The Tulips had nothing.

But Eli couldn't say that she blamed her. She wouldn't want to be caught in the cross fire of the Lilies and the Roses.

And unfortunately for her, she was directly in the middle of the whole situation.

She sighed as she exited her dorm. She walked down the wooden floors of the refined dormitory and headed downstairs for dinner. Eli heard it was pasta night, which she didn't mind, but Umi was a big fan of Italian dishes. Eli laughed at Umi trying to contain her excitement in her head.

The representative jogged down the stairs at a quick pace, crossing by fellow Roses with a 'hello' before continuing on her way.

Eli walked into the restaurant-like area where she could see her friends sitting at a table together. They were both looking down at their menu's, exchanging a few words every few moments before they were back to their menu's.

Eli rolled her eyes as she approached her two friends, taking a seat next to them.

"Oh hey Eli." Umi greeted, her eyes tearing away from her menu to Eli. Her eyes were analytical and logical, though at first glance they seemed like a warm brown.

"Hey Umi, Maki." Eli nodded to the redhead girl who was sitting across from Umi. She was absentmindedly twirling a finger through her hair and her violet eyes never left the menu.

"How are you doing, Eli?" Maki asked, her curiosity masked by disinterest as she flipped through the menu.

"There's no need to put up a facade when I know exactly what your thinking, Maki." Eli smiled, poking Maki's arm, who rolled her eyes when a faint red splotch appeared on her cheeks.

"S-Shut up Eli, you're not all that." Maki shot back.

"Wow, you got me." Eli pushed further, earning a soft chuckle from Umi.

"Y-You shut u-up too Umi!" Maki stuttered out, and Umi chuckled yet again while Eli shook her head with a smile. Maki covered her face with her menu, as if it was a means of escape, and motioned with her hand for Eli to answer her question.

Her smiled faded and was replaced by her regular stare as she spoke.

"I'm okay. After I thought over Hoshizora-san's decision it started to make more sense." Eli's tone when she finished the sentence demanded that they didn't speak further about the subject. Umi was already fine with it, flipping through her menu, but Maki seemed to still be unhappy with the minimal response. Though she didn't voice her thoughts on the matter.

"Well," Umi began after a few moments of silence, with the casual flip of the menu every here and then. "I am ready to order. How about you two?" Maki followed suit and set her menu on top of Umi's.

"I'm good." Maki said. Eli felt the two girls now looking at her as she looked over the menu yet again, wondering what exactly to order.

"Thank you for waiting," Eli set down her menu. "I am ready to order."

Umi nodded and hit a small buzzer in the middle of the table. After a few minutes of waiting, a waiter came to get their order. They told him what they wanted, and he was back after another short period with their meals.

Eli watched with a smirk as Umi looked at the dish the waiter was currently setting down in front of her anxiously. She licked her lips for the umpteenth time, and Eli couldn't help but exchange amused looks with Maki.

They chatted freely with one another throughout their meal. Maki spoke about her studies and how she felt that she was getting mostly everything down, since as of the moment she was currently struggling with Science. Maki also lightly touched on how her piano competitions were going, since she was musically talented, but mostly the piano was where she was at her best.

Umi spoke about Mathletes, and how their group was going. Mathletes was a group formed by Principal Minami where all the students who were talented mathematicians were placed in one group to compete in competitions around the world. Umi could be seen as a math genius-Eli sometimes called her Einstein for fun-and was the leader of the Mathletes. Unfortunately, there were also Lilies in that group, but Umi was able to deal with it.

Eli didn't speak too much about herself. She mostly just commented on certain things and asked about the other two girls. Eli's talent was computers. She was a technology whiz, but mostly specialized in computers and coding.

She couldn't help but mentally wander away from the conversation between Maki and Umi and think about her own goals. Eli was currently working on making her own game, a visual novel. They weren't the most popular games in the world, but Eli thought it was a good start before she started something too large.

The school supplied the funds she would need, but she could just ask for help from the artists around school for character art and backgrounds. She could handle the rest.

Unfortunately there was only one girl in the school whose talent was art.

And that was Nozomi.

Eli knew she could just ask somebody else, but she couldn't doubt the beauty of Nozomi's drawings. They were amazing, Eli had never seen such talent.

Well, next to herself.

"Eli!" Maki's voice snapped Eli back to reality as she looked over at Maki who had an annoyed gleam in her eyes. "You're thinking of Nozomi again, aren't you?" Eli violently shook her head.

"Of course not! That waste of space?" Eli asked incredulously, trying to keep her voice down. Attracting the attention of the other Roses would be bad.

Umi rolled her eyes.

"For a waste of space you sure seem to talk about her a lot." Umi reminded. Eli's expression changed as she glared at Umi.

"Listen, I thought we had a deal." Eli whispered roughly, repeating the same thing to Maki, who sighed.

"Yes, we did make a deal. Sorry." Maki apologized.

"Yes, I apologize as well, that was careless of me." Umi continued, taking a bite of her meal. Eli shook her head before she indulged in her own meal, her mind reeling as thoughts of Nozomi kept popping up in her head.

 _I hate Nozomi._

 _I hate Nozomi._

 _I hate Nozomi._

 _No...Nozomi hates me._

Eli sat in the computer lab, running a hand through her blonde ponytail as she sighed. Her eyes were droopy and tired, and she fought to stay awake as she continued to type into the computer.

Eli had written the story of the game over the summer. A modern day rewrite of Romeo and Juliet, that was how Eli liked to think of it. Umi had aided her in writing the story, and Eli felt like the two of them had done an excellent job.

But there wasn't too much she could do in terms of coding without the art. That was one of the key parts of a visual novel, it was _visual._

 _Yume no meiro_

 _Yuri no meiro_

She slammed her head against the desk. Eli wasn't too afraid of making any noise, since she was the only one in the computer lab.

The computer lab definitely wasn't a part of the Rose Red dorm. No, it was in the main school building. She knew that there was a curfew, but since she was the representative of Rose Red the teachers trusted her enough to let her have her freedom.

That was the upside to it.

Eli had tried to draw on her own, but they usually turned out looking absolutely atrocious. She never knew she was such an awful drawer, but since she was a computer genius, she had to have a drawback somewhere.

Maki and Umi weren't exactly artists either. Sure, they were far better then Eli, but in the grand scale of things that really didn't mean all that much.

Eli wished that it was anybody other then Nozomi, but that was just the way it was. Eli had always known Nozomi was a fantastic drawer.

The Rose Red representative leaned back against her chair as she closed her eyes, thinking about the time when Nozomi had drew a portrait of her self.

 _"_ _Eli-chi, you need to stand still." Nozomi said, shaking her head as she continued moving the pencil carefully along the white sheet of paper._

 _"_ _You should have informed me of how difficult this would be before we started Nozomi." Eli pouted, trying to stop herself from moving as Nozomi giggled._

 _"_ _I thought you were a little bit stronger then this Eli-chi~."_

 _"_ _Shut up!"_

Eli found her self smiling at the memory, until she realized who she was thinking of and she quickly gave her head a good shake.

That was nothing but the past. Nothing but a recollection of meaningless memories that would merely hurt Eli rather then help her.

That was what her father had told her. And Eli believed her father.

 _Akogare o kataru me ga_

 _Tooku o sagashi teru toki_

 _Sabishiku naru_

 _Watashi wa koko ni iru to iitai no_

Eli saved her work and shut down the computer, feeling dead of inspiration as she really realized how tired she was. The blond slipped out of her chair and exited the computer lab, locking the door behind her.

She walked outside and took a sharp breath at the cool night air. Stars glistened in the sky, and Eli stopped her self from reaching out for them, settling for just looking at them in amazement.

Her walk towards the Rose Red dorm was a short one, since the school was in such a tight area that she could travel from building to building efficiently. Her eyes drifted over the The Tulips dorm, one that she often forgot about.

The Rin girl was now the representative of that dorm. Eli wasn't too sure about what the girl was going to do with that position, since Tulips didn't really hold that much power in comparison to the Lilies and Roses.

Eli thought about her responsibilities of tomorrow. The Mathletes were requesting a trip to America for a large convention and Eli was supposed to write her stand point on the situation and present it to Principal Minami.

Nozomi was supposed to as well, and Eli already predicted that she would send the Mathletes to America without a second thought. Eli wasn't too sure.

Yes they may all be almost eighteen, but Eli just thought about all the things that could go wrong. They all spoke English, but it was pretty broken and hard to understand.

Different scenarios raced through Eli's mind as she thought about what exactly she would bring up in her proposal, but decided to think on it more later. If the Mathletes did end up going, it wouldn't be for a while since the convention as near the end of the school year.

Plus Eli was too tired to think straight.

So she decided to going back to her room and take a well deserved rest.

On her way back to the Rose Red dorm, she saw somebody sitting on the bench outside of the Lily White dorm. A girl was sitting there, and Eli could have sworn she heard soft sobs coming from her.

Eli tried to focus her sight on the girl, but was having difficulty. She crept towards the bench sneakily, not wanting to get caught. It would have been a little hard to explain why she, a Rose Red, was creeping towards an unsuspecting Lily White.

The Rose Red rep blinked a few times before she finally noticed who was sitting there.

It was Kotori Minami, the principal's daughter.

Eli was told to never speak of Kotori by Umi after what had gone down between the two, so she had never really spoken to the girl. Not to mention the fact that she was a Lily White, which already created a large rift between the two.

And here was the girl, sobbing at eleven at night, wearing nothing but her school uniform in the freezing cold wind.

Maybe Eli was a Rose Red, and maybe she disagreed with the Lily Whites morals.

But she didn't hate Kotori personally.

She took a deep breath and ran a shaky hand through her air, unsure of what exactly she was going to do. This went against everything she went for, Rose Red's were to never associate with the Lily Whites.

But before Eli knew it, she was dangling her jacket in front of Kotori Minami, who looked up at her in total shock.

"Here, you're going to freeze out here if you hadn't noticed." Eli spoke in a cold tone, keeping her gaze on Kotori who was looking at her in confusion.

"W-What are you doing here?" Kotori asked, shocked as she stared up at Eli.

"I was at the computer lab," Eli wasn't sure why she felt required to tell Kotori anything, but she did anyways. "Now are you going to take this or not?" Eli pushed further, stopping herself from forcing Kotori to put on the jacket.

The principal's daughter looked at her uneasily, but took Eli's jacket anyways. The Rose Red representative watched as Kotori put on the jacket and zipped it up. Eli could still hear Kotori sniffling, but it seemed that the girl had stopped crying, which was a relief.

 _Wait, why do I even care?_ But Eli found herself caring.

She took a seat next to the Lily White and the two just sat in silence, Kotori glancing over at Eli every once in a while.

"Why are you doing this?" Kotori asked questioningly, and Eli could tell by the tone of her voice that she was unsure of Eli's intentions.

All Eli could do is shrug.

"I'm not too sure myself." Eli admitted, wrapping her hands around herself to keep warm. "Why were you crying?" Eli countered, facing the shorter girl who was startled by the question.

Kotori averted her eyes and looked at the ground while Eli waited for a response. After a few minutes of waiting for just a single response, Eli could tell the girl didn't want to talk.

"It's okay if-"

"You are friends with Umi, correct?" Kotori asked, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke.

This was not what was supposed to happen. Eli didn't want to make her cry. And she certainly didn't want to bring up Umi.

"Y-Yeah." Eli didn't stutter. Ayase Eli didn't stutter.

Kotori made an odd noise, Eli couldn't describe it. It wasn't a sob, or a groan, and it wasn't disturbing. It was just odd.

The two sat in silence for another few moments before Kotori spoke up yet again.

"I was just thinking of her." Kotori admitted sheepishly, sniffling again as she rubbed her eyes. That was what Eli had been expecting, but it still intrigued Eli to hear it come out of the girl's mouth.

Umi didn't speak too much about the fall out of her and Kotori. All Eli knew was that they were childhood best friends before something happened at the beginning of high school and it immediately shattered their friendship.

"She thinks of you too, you know." Eli wasn't too sure if that was the right thing to say in her mind, but it felt right in her heart. And when a smile, very small smile appeared on Kotori's face, she was happy that she said it.

They sat again for another few minutes before Eli rose from her spot. She stretched out her hands, remembering how tired she was. Sighing, she reached a hand out to Kotori.

"Come on, we both deserve sleep." Eli said with a smile. Kotori nodded, and cautiously grabbed Eli's hand. Eli pulled her up slowly before they were standing next to one another.

Eli walked slowly towards the entrance of the Lily White dorm, Kotori walking beside her as they still held each others hands. Eli wasn't sure when the last time was since she had human contact like this. Umi and Maki weren't exactly ones for hugs, and neither was Eli truthfully.

With her free hand she opened the door to the dorm.

"Eli, you know that you can't enter." Kotori reminded, not out of rudeness but more for Eli's own safety.

"It's okay, everybody's asleep by now." Eli countered as she entered the warm building, followed by Kotori who was unsure.

Kotori led the way to her room while Eli followed her. Eli wasn't too sure why she walked Kotori back to her room. It was probably because she wanted to make sure that the girl went to sleep and didn't start sobbing again.

They entered Kotori's room silently, not wanting to wake anybody up. That would be detrimental.

"Thank you Eli." Kotori said as Eli stood outside of the room. Eli shrugged and was about to walk away when Kotori grabbed her wrist.

"No really Eli, I don't think you understand..." Kotori realized how bold she was and immediately let go of Eli, waving her hands frantically. "Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do t-MMMH?" Kotori was cut off by something she didn't expect.

A bubbly feeling filled her stomach that moved throughout her body at a fast pace. This was not unfamiliar, though, she felt like this whenever she saw Umi. Except this was a little different, yet Kotori couldn't exactly describe how.

But after a few moments, she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss. There was no movement, just a simple kiss that lasted just a few seconds before Eli broke away.

Kotori's cheeks flushed a scarlet color, and she could practically feel the heat emanating off of them. When she looked up at Eli, she could see the girl was blushing as well, with a shocked look on her face.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..." The girl's had no idea what to say. What could that kiss possibly mean?

Thoughts raced through Eli's head as she wanted to just die out of embarrassment. How could have she kissed her best friends...Her best friends...Well whatever Kotori meant to Umi, how could have Eli kissed her?! It had been a spur of the moment, but the kiss had been nice, and soft.

Did that mean that Eli liked Kotori? Did that mean Kotori liked Eli? The girls just stared at each other, trying to understand what exactly just happened.

"I...I got to go!" Eli yelped, darting away in a mad dash. She didn't care about waking anybody up, she just had to get as far away from Kotori as possible.

Kotori quickly scrambled to get her pajamas on. She was sure Eli's outburst had woken somebody up, so she just had to pretend she wasn't a part of it before somebody caught on to what was happening. She shut the door to her dorm and flicked off the lights before leaping onto her bed crazily. Kotori tried to do her best interpretation of sleep and timed her breathing carefully.

Her cheeks were still warm as she thought about what just happened, and Kotori knew she wasn't getting any sleep that night.

But she was her mother's daughter, and she would get to the bottom of what just happened.

 _Ah! Futari kiri de garasu no hanazone e to_

 _Dare mo inai dare mo iranai_

 _Sotto kowaresou ni sakitai_

 **WTF?! WTF?! WTF?!**

 **HOW CRACK CAN YOU GET?**

 **DID ELI JUST KISS KOTORI?**

 **Yes, yes she did ladies and gentlemen. So what could this possibly mean?**

 **Good question actually...**

 **First of all, do not fret! This is still a KotoUmi and a NozoEli. But you have to expect, it's not like their incapable to like anybody else. So will they puruse a relationship? I dunno, I dunno. We'll see.**

 **My first intention was to have Kotori kiss Eli on the cheek, but this seemed a sort of heat of the moment thing. They just had a super deep talk, Eli can't stop thinking about Nozomi, and Kotori can't stop thinking about Umi, and then they find each other and kiss kiss!**

 **Anyways, apology for any grammer mistakes or anything too bad. I am a really fast typer and sometimes I forget to check my mistakes and sort of rely a little too much on spell check, so apologies.**

 **So I hope you like it so far! Please Review and Favorite/Follow too get this story out there :D**

 **And yeah, that was a little bit of Kotori POV at the end, but I couldn't help it nya.**


	3. Chapter 3

Honoka tapped her pen against her desk, trying her best to pay attention, but it was getting too hard. Hanayo had been really kind to help her take notes, and she would go over the key points of class afterwards with her, so normally she would be fine.

The school didn't seem to know how to deal with Honoka. They tried to treat her like everybody else, but it didn't work. They sort of threw her to the wolves and expected her to fight for herself.

Honoka held back a scoff. Some prestigious school alright.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rin looking out the window at the track, causing Honoka to smile. She had seen the track star running earlier that morning, and she had to admit, she was pretty amazing.

Honoka was a pretty good runner herself, if she did say, but that wasn't what she specialized in. No, Honoka preferred swimming.

Yes, Honoka was one of the best young swimmers in Japan. She held a few record times in freestyles, those were always her favorites, and did well in different events. She had run a triathlon once, but faulted when it came to the biking segment. Honoka wasn't aware how the gears worked and ended up falling off her bike.

The ringing of the bell snapped Honoka out of her thoughts, and she sighed in relief as she got out of her chair.

"Honoka, please come here." The math teacher called, and Honoka exhaled sharply. She exchanged looks with Rin, who seemed to get the gist of what was going on with the swimmer, and the girl motioned that she would be waiting outside. Honoka nodded thankfully and walked up to the teacher.

"Yes Mr. Takashi?" Honoka asked cheerfully. She knew it was bad news, but she might as well try to be cheerful.

Mr. Takashi smiled. He was the only teacher who actually helped her out instead of completely ignoring her presence for the majority of the class, as if forgetting her would make her disability disappear.

"I have the basic key facts to look over for this class. I know Hanayo has been taking it upon herself to help you out, so hopefully this can ease her woes." The math teacher joked, and Honoka smiled gratefully as she tucked the papers into her binder. "You have been taking your pills?" Honoka nodded.

"Yep, two fifteen milligrams day, am I correct?" Honoka asked. She was prone to forgetting things, and though she had memorized her medication by this point, she always went over these things with Mr. Takashi. It was just a part of the routine.

He nodded approvingly and took a seat in his desk, opened a small case containing a pair of glasses that he put on.

"Anyways, don't forget that questions one to seventeen are due tomorrow." Honoka groaned, causing him to laugh. "It's not that bad, you have Hanayo helping you out anyways. And Rin isn't half bad either, she just likes to express her disdain for every single activity I come up with." Honoka laughed at her teachers troubles, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about Rin, she's all bark and no bite. She thinks your a good teacher too." Honoka added, brightening the young teacher's face.

"Anyways, I don't want to keep your friends waiting, so you can head out now." Mr. Takashi said, pointing to Rin who would peek her head through the window sneakily to try and catch a glimpse of what was happening. Clearly it wasn't that sneaky because the teacher had caught her.

"Alright, thank you Mr. T." Honoka bowed before exiting the classroom, thankful that her intuition had been wrong and everything was perfectly fine.

She joined her friends and the three of them walked down the hallway, chattering aimlessly. Rin asked her about what Mr. Takashi had asked, and Honoka simply told her that it was homework. But Rin noticed her tapping on her binder, it seemed like nothing got past the girl.

"Anyways," Hanayo spoke up. Since she had gotten comfortable around Rin, she was easier to hear, but still spoke in her regular light tone. "After school do you want to do the homework in my room?" Hanayo offered, in which Honoka and Rin nodded in response.

"Yes please!" Honoka pleaded, Rin nodding along with her, though not in such a desperate matter as Honoka. It didn't bother her, desperate times called for desperate measure. And that included any work of any kind.

By this time it was lunch. Since there were only seven Tulips, they all sat together at one table in the cafeteria. Rin was confused why there was a cafeteria in the main building when both the Lilies and Roses had their own eating areas, and Honoka took it upon herself to tell her that they did it for efficiency and to show off their money.

"You know, if they want to show off how much money they have they should give us a better damn dorm." Rin complained. Honoka shrugged.

"I sort of like it. I mean, the Lilies and Roses had their dorms made for them, but we had to make our own with our own two hands. It was made just by our hard work. Don't you agree Hanayo?" Her partner in crime hummed in agreement. "So, how are representative duties going for you?" Honoka asked, in which Rin groaned in response.

"It was a bad idea, really." Hanayo and Honoka laughed at Rin's defeated expression. "I mean, I didn't think it would be so much work. Eli and Nozomi look like they barely do anything. But for every freaking trip you have to right about how you _feel_ about the situation, as if it's supposed to amount to anything." Honoka laughed harder, clutching her stomach at her friends word choice.

"Yeah, you sure have your work cut out for you." Hanayo jabbed, surprising Rin who crossed her arms.

"You're supposed to be the supportive one, you know." By this time, all the girls were laughing together.

Rin calmed herself down and went back to her nonchalant demeanor, and slammed her hands on the table, attracting the attention of the rest of the Tulips.

"Okay Tulips, this is the time where you complain about whatever you want and I try to fix it." Rin said it more like a demand instead of something that would be inviting to the Tulips, but people were more than happy to voice their opinions.

"Well, one of the showers in the locker room is broken." A blond girl said, her best friend next to her nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, one day it just stopped working." She added, and Rin nodded as she scribbled down what they said on a sheet of paper.

Honoka watched as everybody said what they wanted to Rin, who seemed happy to deal with some of the problems within the Tulips dorm and things involving schoolwork itself.

"Honoka, do you have anything to say?" Rin asked, and Honoka brought her hand to her chin in wonder, her foot tapping against the floor. She had an idea of what to say, but it seemed to totally slipped her mind as she was more focused on what everybody else had to say.

"Um..." Honoka stalled for time, before an idea popped up in her head. "I know! The Lilies kind of own the outside, while the Roses seem to own the inside, but we don't really have any place for the Tulips." Honoka said, people around the table agreeing with her, chattering escalating to different ideas on where their own area could be.

"Order in the court, order in the court!" Rin hit her fist against the table a few times, easily retaining the attention of all her fellow Tulips. Except for Honoka, who was still thinking about different places to have home base. "Honoka, you too!"

"Oh yeah, what did you say?"

"I'm saying that I'll write it down and think about it more later. Anyways, let's summarize." Rin said, grabbing the notepad with both hands to get a better look at it. "So we want to fix the broken shower, have a new paint job at least for the exterior of the building, an eating place for Tulips other then the school cafeteria, some benches outside of the Tulips dormitory, some textbooks for Tulips so that we can stop borrowing them from Roses and Lilies-because that's just awkward-and in conclusion our own area to hang out." Rin summarized.

"Sounds good to me." Another girl said, and everybody was happen with the decisions.

"This is going to take a lot of work." Rin thought aloud, lying her head down on the table. Honoka patted her friend on the back for support.

"Well Rin, we want to thank you for becoming our representative, this is the first time we've had one in a while." Hanayo thanked on behalf of the rest of the Tulips. Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"Well, the rest of the reps always got discouraged since we usually didn't really get what we asked for." A voice admitted sheepishly, and murmurs of agreement hovered around the table.

"But Rin," Honoka began, patting her friend on the back once again. It was probably a little too rough since a piece of food flew out of Rin's mouth when her hand made contact with the girl's back. "We believe that you have something different, and that you will carry the Tulips to victory!" Honoka cheered, picking up the moral of the rest of the Tulips. Rin shook her head.

"Whatever you say bud."

Honoka entered the pool room with a skip in her step, seeing the rest of her team gathered around their coach. The rest of them weren't specializing in swimming, but they were still good swimmers.

But Honoka was the best on the team. She competed in the majority of the competitions and always managed to snag a couple of gold medals. Of course, Honoka knew that she couldn't win them all, but at least she could win some of them.

She joined her group with a hello. The swim team was made up of all Tulips, and was the only all Tulip group in the school. Rin and Hanayo always watched every practice, since they were the only Tulips who didn't participate in the swim team.

"Okay Honoka, can you lead the team in a quick warm up?" The coach asked, in which Honoka nodded happily in agreement.

"Of course!" Honoka said, facing the rest of her friends with a grin plastered across her face. "Alright guys, just copy me!" Honoka led the team into different stretches, and when she would accidentally repeat a stretch she'd already done, somebody would kindly remind her that she had done it already. Honoka didn't know too much about the Roses or the Lilies, but she was extremely thankful that the Tulips were all nice and good friends.

Honoka lined each person up in front of a separate lane. There were nine lanes total, so they had plenty of room to spare.

"Okay, were just going to do two laps, just to get the blood pumping. We'll go in on my count." Honoka instructed. Her team nodded in response, and Honoka got ready to dive right into the clear water, her left foot tapping against the floor.

"3,"

"2,"

"1,"

"JUMP!" Honoka yelled, filled with excitement as she dived into the blue.

And a rush of happiness and fulfillment coursed through her veins.

Honoka swam at a reasonable pace through the cool water. It prickled her skin for a few moments before she adjusted to the sudden difference between water and air. Her body moved easily through the water, already feeling her calmest.

The water was where Honoka couldn't be judged. Fidgeting and forgetfulness and dis-focus and homework didn't affect her in the water, she could just swim freely without anybody knowing there was something wrong with the girl.

No, there was nothing wrong with Honoka.

She was just the same as anybody else.

The rest of practice moved by quickly and after the blink of an eye Honoka found herself all too soon showering in the locker room.

After cleaning herself up she met Rin and Hanayo outside, and they all walked together towards the Tulip dorm.

"Wow Honoka, I knew you were good, but you're like Olympics good." Rin admitted, her right hand acting as a rest for her head. Honoka shrugged, taking the ego boost with a grain of salt.

"Thanks, but I can't be arrogant. There are thousands of people out there at the same skill level as me." Honoka said, and Rin lightly jabbed her in the shoulder.

"Ha! If I were you, I'd be taking every compliment I got and blab it to other people. Everyone thinks I'm some type of god." Rin joked, earning a light giggle from Hanayo.

"You two are very talented athletes, Honoka's just a little bit better at containing her ego." Hanayo settled with. Rin shrugged.

"Hanayo's what's your talent anyways?" Rin wondered bluntly, not seeing that what she said was a little careless. But Hanayo had gotten used to the girl and smiled.

"I like to think that I'm pretty good at ballet..." Hanayo blushed, twiddling her thumbs while Honoka shook her head.

"Pretty good? More like amazing. Hanayo's the best dancer I have ever met, point blank and the dot." Honoka said with a look in her eyes, her mind drifting to the first performance Honoka ever watched of Hanayo's dancing.

 _Honoka shivered as she walked down the streets of the bustling city. Otonokizaka had taken a small trip to cheer on a new Tulip girl, Hanayo, on her first national dance competition. She would be representing Otonokizaka, of course, that was the real reason all the students were forced to go anyways._

 _But Honoka was happy she could go. Hanayo had been warming up to her over time, though people had been initially surprised that she had choose Tulips. Honoka was thankful for that, she would be their fourth member._

 _The swimmer finally found herself in a building packed with people. There was a stage that had somebody talking on it, and Honoka noticed that she was already a little late._

 _She looked over the seated area to see her Tulips sitting in the third row, and Honoka tried her best to creep over there without bothering anybody. Her mission had been successful, and her friends were kind enough to hold a seat for her._

 _Honoka tried her best to focus, but found her mind drifting off to other places, like different things that she had seen in the city that she had never seen back in Japan._

 _Honoka wasn't sure why she could never seem to keep herself focused on one thing. Mr. Takashi, her math teacher, seemed to be getting genuinely worried about Honoka's mental wellness, and had taken it upon himself to take her to the doctor next week._

 _And now her mind was wondering to the doctors instead of the performance she should be watching._

 _When she focused back on to what was happening, she noticed that she had already missed the majority of the dances. Fear filled her chest as she took a deep breath, hoping that she hadn't missed Hanayo's dance._

 _Thankfully, she hadn't._

 _"_ _Next up is Koizumi Hanayo!" The spokesman announced, and the small girl walked cautiously onto the stage. She looked extremely nervous, and Honoka was afraid that she might back out._

 _But after she faced the audience, a look of confidence Honoka had never seen worn by the girl appeared on her face._

 _And that's when the performance began._

 _Honoka had never seen somebody dance-well she had seem somebody dance, just not a professional-before and it was something that calmed her whole being. She felt herself focusing in on Hanayo's delicate and beautiful movements, shocked by how good she was and how Honoka was no longer fidgeting aimlessly._

 _She fluttered around the stage, her steps light and elegant, and Honoka knew that she was already attracting the attention of the judges._

 _All too soon, the performance had ended and Honoka found herself standing up, clapping fiercely at the amazing performance of her friend._

 _Hanayo was someone special._

"Honoka do you know the answer to the question or not? Oi why the hell am I asking you?" Rin's voice brought Honoka back to reality as she looked around. They were sitting in Hanayo's room, gathered around in a circle with their textbooks opened up.

Honoka tried to play off the fact that she had been on auto pilot for the last while and shook her head.

"Why do you think I'd know?" Honoka asked, causing Rin to shrug.

"Good question. Hanayo!" The two girls now faced Hanayo, who was working through the math questions with ease and efficiency. She looked up at the two girls with tired eyes.

"Which question?"

"Question seven."

"You're only on question seven?" Hanayo asked the two incredulously, in which they nodded in response.

 _Shiawase o hohoemi o todokemashou_

 _Chotto wakatta mitai kara dani nagareru hibiki_

 _Fui no deai janai youna_

 _Watashitachi konnani hikareru kiseki_

"Have you seen Eli lately? She seems so out of it." Rin asked, lying on Hanayo's bed. Honoka and Hanayo sat on the floor, watching a movie through Honoka's phone.

Honoka shrugged. She thought the Rose Red leader was as scary as usual. But Hanayo seemed to feel otherwise.

"I agree. She isn't as focused, I think. And Kotori from Lily White has been acting weird too." Hanayo added, holding her chin in thought.

"Isn't that the Principal's daughter?" Rin asked. Honoka nodded.

"Yep." Honoka said, thinking of the girl her age. Kotori had given Honoka her first tour around the school, hoping that she would choose Lily White. Honoka laughed at the memory, piquing Rin's interest.

"What's so funny?" Rin asked. Honoka just sighed, leaning her head against the side of the best.

"Nothing, just thinking about my first day. Kotori had given me the tour of the school and was trying to get me to join Lily White, but you could tell she was totally uncomfortable doing it." Honoka reminisced, thinking back to her first day wistfully. It surely had been an interesting day.

"Ha-ha, what happened when you choose the Tulip? Her reaction must have been hilarious." Rin laughed at her own thoughts. Honoka smirked, exchanging looks with Hanayo who was smiling playfully as well. Rin had no idea.

"Everyone's reaction was crazy. People were freaking out, Eli and Nozomi were complaining to Principal Minami." Honoka said. Rin slipped off the bed eagerly and took a seat next to Honoka.

"Wow. What the hell happened exactly?" Rin asked. Honoka exchanged looks with Hanayo once again, this time it didn't go unnoticed by Rin. "Hey, what exactly is going on here?" Rin asked, an annoyed tone evident in her voice.

"It's nothing. It's just that when I first came to this school, Tulips didn't exist." Honoka explained, and Rin made an "Ah" sound of realization.

"Oh, I see. So did you like, join Rose Red and then transfer to Tulips later on? But I thought Principal Minami said that you were stuck with your division after you joined it." Rin said, confusion evident in her voice as Hanayo giggled again while Honoka rolled her eyes.

"Rin, I thought I was the stupid one." Honoka joked, patting her friend on the back.

"Rin," Hanayo began, getting the now frustrated and flustered girl's attention.

"Yeah, what is it? And quit playing games okay." Rin spat bitterly, scratching her head.

Hanayo sighed, but still had a amused look on her face as she spoke.

"Honoka is the one who originally created Tulips. She raised the money for the dorm and she was the one who recruited the members." Hanayo explained.

 _Daijina koto wa ashita o shinjiru ariake egao_

 _Ai wa taiyou ookina taiyou_

 _Himawarigao agete oikakeru_

 _Ai wa taiyou terashi tsudzukete_

 _Onaji basho de saite itai_

 _Minna minna shiawase ni nare_

"NO FREAKING WAY!"

 **Ha-ha! Shocker, shocker! Honoka is the one who formed the Tulips! Actually, to most it probably won't come off as too exciting, but I'm loving it.**

 **Small hint on Eli and Kotori's catastrophic situation. It's getting awkward, and it won't be long until their friends catch on!**

 **Sorry that there was nothing too romantic this chapter, I was using this chapter so you could learn more about Honoka and about Rin's jobs as a representative and Hanayo's talent. Basic character development really.**

 **So Honoka's mental illness is probably getting pretty obvious by this point in time. I got the pill measurements by a guy on line who is taken the same pills and going through the same problem.**

 **Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter! Please Review and Follow/Favorite, every single one is appreciated. The next POV will be none other then Nico Nico Nii! That's right, we haven't heard anything from Nico, let alone her relationship with Maki, so we're going to dive right into it next chapter!**

 **Also, thank you to Nishikino Maki and Jun Sakamato for your reviews. Muuch appreciated. All shoutout to anybody who followed or favorited. Muuch appreciated.**

 **We also got to go over the three chapters in one day. Yes, sort of weird that I'm firing off chapters like this. How I write is that I write a lot of chapters and** ** _then_** **start posting the story, so I already have thirty thousand words written so do not worry for lack of updates. Anyways, school starts tomorrow so updates will be slowing down, haha and we've just started so yeah. Aplogies Apologies.**


	4. Chapter 4

Nozomi was staring again.

Though it looked like Nozomi was paying attention to what Kotori was currently talking about, Nico knew that she was staring at Eli again.

"Shh, Kotori look." Nico bumped her friend lightly in the side, stopping her from telling her story as she pointed at Nozomi, holding back laughter. "Little Miss 'I Hate Eli' is currently giving her the love eyes." Nico laughed, not being able to hold it back, but knew that when Nozomi was in this state she couldn't hear anything.

But Kotori's facial expression bothered her.

It was a weird expression, and only lasted a moment. It contained a range of emotions: confusion, upset, guilt...and _jealousy_? But as soon as it was there, it was gone, and replaced by an amused smile.

"She's got it so bad." Kotori giggled. Nico knew that it was fake, but didn't want to point Kotori out all the sudden and just continued laughing.

"Hey, Nozomi! Earth to Nozomi!" Nico yelled at her friend, tapping her on her arm. The pig tailed girl rolled her eyes, and literally had to grab Nozomi's face to get her attention. "Are you listening to me?"

Nozomi looked at Nico in confusion, making no move to remove her hands from her face.

"What are you doing Nico-chi?" This question caused Kotori to laugh. The violet haired girl turned her attention to Kotori after Nico had finally removed her hands. "What's so funny Kotori?"

"Oh nothing..." Kotori smiled, brushing off the subject, not without winking at Nico who broke out into more laughter. It seemed like Kotori was back to normal.

Nozomi rolled her eyes at her friends antics, and Nico watched as the girl took a bite of her sandwich. This reminded Nico of her own food, and she happily dug into her meal, hungry from the hours of schoolwork.

Though when she thought of Nozomi looking at Eli, she couldn't help but feel her eyes wander over to the blond girl. She wasn't stupid, the girl had been acting extremely weird the last couple of days. And Nozomi seemed to be noticing it too, and it clearly bothered the girl.

Nico's eyes somehow changed from Eli to the redhead sitting across from her.

She was twirling her red locks, trying to show disinterest as she was really paying close attention to what Umi, the blue haired girl, was currently going on about. Nico rolled her eyes at her friend's antics.

 _Well, ex-friend. We sure as hell aren't friends anymore._ Nico grimaced at old memories that filled her mind, distracting herself by the goodness sitting in front of her. She took another bite of her meal, focusing her attention back on her new friends. On her best friends. On her better friends. On her _sane_ friends.

"So how's idol work been going for you?" Kotori wondered, taking a spoonful of soup. Nozomi looked at Nico with interested eyes too.

"That's a great question, you haven't been talking about it too much Nico-chi. Is everything going okay~." Nozomi wondered. Nico shrugged.

"I guess. Tsubasa's really been helping me with my vocal range, and they have been working on writing my first single. Though I hate having to go to the gym three times a week." Nico groaned.

Yes, Nico's talent was her amazing voice. It was beautiful, and Nico loved it when people complimented her on her voice. She had competed in multiple different singing competitions, and once got invited to join an all girl idol group, but she had got cut when...

Well, that's all that needed to be said.

"Wow, you're so lucky to be working with a world famous idol!" Kotori said enviously, a sparkly gleam in her eyes as Nozomi laughed.

"Kotori, I didn't know you wanted to be an idol~." Nozomi teased, poking the girl gently. Kotori shook her head.

"Well, I don't know about being an idol Nozomi..." Kotori admitted, taking another spoonful of her soup before Nozomi could question her further.

"Yeah, Tsubasa's really easy to work with. I'm really thankful that she saw something in me, or else I'd just be sitting at home watching her on the T.V." Nico laughed, taking another bite of her sandwich.

The group of three chatted aimlessly for the rest of the lunch hour until the bell rang, meaning that classes would be starting soon.

Nico groaned, wishing that lunch was longer. Or better yet, school was over. Or even better yet, the school just blew up.

But unfortunately none of the three were options as she followed her friends to Math class, hoping that the school day would be over soon.

 _Oide! Oide! Yuuwaku no Dance again_

 _Oide yo oide! Kaguya no shiro he_

 _Deai ga ayatsuru misuterii_

 _Kiken na perusona_

Nico stumbled behind her friends as they walked down the hallway.

She wasn't sure on how Kotori and Nozomi were so lively after the extremely long class of History. Nico wished that she could just fall asleep, but she didn't want the History teacher to yell at her. She was so scary.

The trio were heading back to their dorm to put away their things, and then were going to go on a nice walk around the school. The idea didn't seem so nice to Nico. She just wanted to take a nap.

As she followed her friends around a corner, she accidentally crashed into somebody, both of their things falling to the floor in a heap of papers and different items.

"Aw, watch it!" Nico yelped, trying to look at the crime committee, until she realized exactly who it was and then regretted it immediately.

There she stood, Maki. The two looked at each other wide eyed. They had calculated their movements throughout the years just to make sure they would never cross paths. Never crash into one another.

Eli and Umi stood behind Maki, looking equally as frazzled, and Kotori and Nozomi quickly took their spots next to Nico.

"Of course, I should have expected this. A mission by Rose Red to assassinate a Lily White. Didn't know you guys sunk to such levels." Nico spat, picking up anything she identified as her own. Maki placed her hands on her hips, an uninterested look in her eyes.

In this type of situation Eli and Nozomi would be glaring at one another and Kotori and Umi would try _not_ to look at one another, but this time seemed different. Kotori and Eli seemed extremely awkward, Umi was always awkward, and Nozomi was left trying to figure out what was going on.

"Nico, you know you are the one who bumped in to me!" Maki retorted, picking up her own things as well. Nico shook her head.

"Um, that's total bull. You're the one who crashed into me and started this whole mess!" Nico countered, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. Maki groaned in annoyance, and pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly not in the mood.

Nico took this time to spare a glance at Eli, who was looking so out of it and extremely awkward. She usually always stood up for Maki, and then Umi would back her up with an equally witty remark, but there was nothing coming out of her.

"What's up, Mrs. President? Seems like somethings got you distracted. I don't blame you, when you hang out with somebody who is _insane_ , it gets to you." Nico said, motioning to Maki. Eli didn't seem to hear what she said, the Rose Red rep was lost in her thoughts, but Maki heard loud and clear.

"I'm not insane, alright Nico?!" This seemed to spring a nerve as Maki became more angry in comparison to annoyance. Nico rolled her eyes, not believing anything that came out of the redhead's mouth.

"Oh really? I think a _sane_ person wouldn't push somebody down a _flight of st-."_ Nico was cut off by a sharp pain to her left cheek. She hadn't even seen the slap coming, but it had happened, and Nico clutched her cheek painfully.

A stream of regret was clear in Maki's eyes, but she held her ground.

"I thought I told you," Maki growled. "I am not insane." Nico rolled her eyes, still wincing from the pain of the blow.

"Well, you seem to still be out for me. How many times are you going to hurt me until you are satisfied with yourself, I wonder?" Nico bemused, her tone cynical, as she clutched her cheek.

Maki had had enough, for she walked away in a storm of rage. Umi instantly followed after her, but Eli seemed to be lingering a little longer.

Nico suspected it would be to catch a glance at Nozomi.

And the girl did, Nico had watched her. But for the tiniest of a millisecond, her eyes seemed to flutter over to Kotori as well.

Nico just assumed it was her imagination.

Nozomi seemed to have snapped out of her thoughts as she quickly ran over to Nico.

"Ah! Nico-chi I'm so sorry, I was totally out of it. Come on, let's head back to the dorm." Nozomi cooed, helping her friends with her things as the two walked back to the Lily White dorm.

But Nico noticed when Kotori stared at Umi-or was it Eli?-with a longing look in her eyes before she followed as well, muttering apologies as she helped Nico with her things as well.

 _Odorou! Odorou! Owaranai Dance beat_

 _Odorou yo Odorou! Kaguya no shiro de_

 _Yozora o kiritoru reezaa biimu_

 _Watashi to mite yo?_

"I can't believe Maki slapped you. As if she hasn't done enough already." Nozomi seemed to be talking to herself more then she was talking to Nico as they walked towards Nico's room. Kotori hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, that wasn't cool of her. But, you did say some pretty mean things Nico." Kotori admitted. Nico rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She said stubbornly, causing Kotori to sigh. The trio entered the dorm room before Nozomi headed towards the door almost instantly.

"I'm going to run and get some ice. You two stay here, okay?" Nozomi's maternal instincts were kicking in, and all Nico could do was nod in agreement as the older girl left the room, leaving herself and Kotori.

Once she knew Nozomi was at a far enough distance, Nico turned her attention back to Kotori.

"I'm sorry Nico, for not doing anything." Kotori apologized sheepishly, clearly feeling bad for what she had done. Nico shrugged.

"It's fine, that's not what's bothering me. What's going on with _you_ Kotori?" Nico announced her suspicions. Nico made theories about what could possibly be going on between Kotori and Eli, but she couldn't pinpoint what exactly _was_ going on without any real, solid information.

"W-What? Nothing." Kotori said, walking towards the bed to take a seat on it. Unfortunately for her, Nico followed suit and took a seat next to the brunette, not letting her go just yet.

"Kotori, I've known you for years. You're a terrible liar." Nico reminded, causing Kotori to laugh.

"Yeah, that much is true. Lying certainly isn't my talent." Kotori joked, running a hand through her hair. "Speaking about talents, you didn't really dwell too much into your idol w-"

"Don't change the subject Kotori." Nico spoke with a stern tone, causing Kotori to flinch. Nico softened when she realized she had scared the girl. "I don't want to come off as mean, I can just tell something's bothering you, and I just want to help." Nico said, grabbing one of Kotori's hands.

Kotori's eyes shot up to meet Nico's, and Nico was surprised by what she saw. The girl was obviously holding back tears, and her eyes reflected worry, apprehension, and a lot of guilt. Yes, guilt was definitely prominent.

"I've done something...Really awful Nico." Kotori admitted, blinking back tears. "Really, really awful." She continued.

Nico paused for a few moments before she spoke.

"And it involves Eli?" Nico wondered, thinking about just dropping the subject. Nico waited a few moments, not expecting anything, until Kotori nodded slowly, almost unsure.

"Yes." Her voice was soft and fragile, and Nico knew at this point she should just let it go. She didn't want too, now that her curiosity was sparked, but Nozomi would be back any second and she certainly didn't want to hear anything involving the Rose Red representative.

"Okay, that's good enough. Thanks for telling me, we can talk more later." Nico finished, brushing away the tears falling out of Kotori's eyes. "Clean yourself up, Nozomi's going to be here any second, and I'm going to go out on a whim that Nozomi probably should not know about this." Kotori nodded, thankful for Nico's loyalty, and went to her backpack to grab a few tissues and some makeup.

She was able to clean herself up right as Nozomi walked into the room, and Nico thanked the gods for her luck.

"I got the ice." Nozomi said, handing the small plastic bag to Nico, who had forgotten about the slap.

"Thanks." She didn't want Nozomi's efforts to be in vain, so she held the pack to her cheek anyways. A sharp feeling spread through her cheeks as she winced at the immediate coldness.

The girl's sat in a circle and talked about different things. They avoided the subject about Maki, which Nico was thankful for, and she made sure that Kotori didn't spill anything about whatever was happening with Eli.

Her mind couldn't stop itself from drifting over to the Rose Red trio. There was going to be endless problems involving the six girls, and Nico was tempted to rub circles into her temples to stop the headache forming.

She wondered about Maki, thinking about what the girl was doing right now. Was she being consoled by Eli and Umi? Was she questioning Eli about her weirdness like how Nico had questioned Kotori? Was Maki even giving Nico a second thought?

Her brain told her to hope that Maki wasn't thinking about her at all.

But her heart _wanted_ Maki to think about her. She was only human.

"I better organize my things, it's probably a big mess at this point." Nico said to her two friends, who were currently talking about the new horror movie coming out.

"Do you want any help Nico-chi?" Nozomi asked. Nico shook her head.

"Nah, no thanks. You can continue to creep Kotori out, though, that will definitely make me feel better." Nico laughed, causing Kotori to pout.

"You guys!" Kotori complained.

"So as I was saying," Nozomi's tone changed to a creepy, wispy one that already had Kotori practically shaking.

Nico chuckled lightly at her friends antics as she looked through her things. A lot of papers had spilled out from her binder, but it wouldn't be too hard to clean up.

As she sorted out the papers, she noticed a notebook that she hadn't seen before. It had a black cover, and had nothing written in the name or subject area.

"Is this just a notebook I never used?" Nico wondered to herself, opening it up.

Her eyes went wide at what was in the notebook.

They were drawings of Nico. Every single page was a new drawing of Nico.

The black haired girl flipped through the pages, recognizing the drawings immediately as Maki's style. Though she didn't compare to Nozomi, she still was a good artist.

 _I remember this book. Maki would draw pictures of me all the time, and I would tease her for it._ Nico regrettably found herself laughing at the memories, recognizing each and every one until halfway through the book. _Wait, are these new?_

Yes, they certainly were. Each picture was dated of this year. There wasn't a new picture everyday, but one every once in a while. Nico felt her eyes get watery as she looked at the new drawings of every page.

Maybe Maki still did care.

Maybe Nico should go finally accept her apology. She should forgive her. She should have forgiven her a long time ago.

 _Maki..._ _I miss you._

Nozomi watched out of the corner of her eyes at Nico who was currently looking through a notebook that she couldn't recognize.

But she turned her attention back to the girl she was currently scaring. Kotori was absolutely terrified at this point, and Nozomi was resisting the urge to laugh as she continued to spook her best friend.

But she wasn't an idiot.

She knew what was going on.

Well, she knew _something_ was going on.

 _"_ _Clean yourself up, Nozomi's going to be here any second, and I'm going to go out on a whim that Nozomi probably should not know about this."_

 _"_ _And it involves Eli?"_

 _"_ _I've done something awful...Really awful Nico_."

Nozomi hadn't meant to get the ice so fast, but she did. Nozomi didn't mean to eavesdrop and Nico's and Kotori's conversation, but she did. Nozomi didn't mean to care, but she did. And now, she was wary of her best friend.

 **OH DAMN!**

 **NOZOMI HEARD BITCHES! EVERYBODY RUN TO THE HILL! TAKE COVER!**

 **Anyways, I want to apologize for the smaller chapter. It's really late right now so I just kind of want to go to sleep, but I made sure I finished the chapter.**

 **Anyways, we finally got some minimal insight between Maki and Nico! How exciting! And of course, some people are starting to clue in on what exactly is going on between Kotori and Eli! And now that Nozomi's knows something is up, this is going to turn into a full out blood bath!**

 **So, as you probably know, the key parts of the storyline AT THE MOMENT are:**

 **Eli and Kotori's relationship**

 **Honoka's disability**

 **Rin settling into being the representative**

 **Now I repeat, this is what is going on AT THE MOMENT. NozoEli and KotoUmi is still endgame, I assure you. Unless you guys want EliKoto, lol, that'll be a first.**

 **Sorry for NicoMaki lovers who are not satisfied with the current NicoMaki, we will be divulging into that trainwreck later on in the story. Lol, all these relatinships are so screwed up.**

 **Anyways, thank you for every Review and Follow/Favorite. I appreciate every single one!**

 **JayxNitro, I'm curious about Honoka's disability too, even though I know what it is lol :P. We won't be having a Honoka chapter for quite a bit, so you can start making theories ;P.**

 **Camay, I just got to say, I had a really great laugh from your comment. I'm so sorry ;(, lol jk. I know, how could Eli do that to Nozomi? But you know how emotions are, pesky pesky. Don't worry, this is still a NozoEli and KotoUmi, but there will be behind the scenes KotoEli until everything falls through. You'll see, my friend, you'll see.**

 **Jun I can always rely on a review from you. Yes, be curious. Nozomi's and Eli's past won't be revealed for a bit, but you'll see it soon since I just finished it. And don't worry about little old me, my duty is just to make content for you. :D you're too kind.**

 **And finishing off with BlackHawk. I agree with you 100%. Rin really had not a lot of character development in the show, so it's nice to see her getting devopment now. She is a total badass btw. Haha, and seriously I found myself shipping Kotori with Eli too after this :D It's just cute. MakiKoto too, haha don't know where that came from.**

 **Next POV will be Rin-chan, then Kotori, and then the third person is yet to be decided. Sorry for no Maki or Umi POV'S yet, there has been quite an Umi absence, but she'll be around soon enough.**


	5. Chapter 5

Rin's eyes scrolled over the words, she was now half way through the book. The track star was surprised at all the rules of the flower divisions, and even thought it was overwhelming, it intrigued Rin.

"Section C, subsection B..." Rin read over the next string of rules. "Entry of another flower's dorm without permission will result in punishment. Damn, these rules are strict as hell." Rin mumbled under her breath, flipping to the next page filled with rules and instructions.

"Section C, subsection C..." One of the rules was that you couldn't leave the school without permission of the Tulips representative. This caused Rin to wonder about how the Tulips lasted without a representative for so long.

Her eyes flickered upwards. She could see different books tucked into each bookcase in the library. It was practically empty, and it felt weird that Rin-a girl who hated books and the library in general-was the only one there.

She sat up from her spot on the floor and trudged over to the librarian.

"Can I please checkout this book?" Rin asked, dropping the large rule book on the counter nonchalantly as the librarian looked at Rin in interest.

"This book hasn't been checked out in a while." The librarian commented, typing into the computer. Rin shrugged.

"Well, I'm the new Tulips representative, so I thought I owed them enough to at least give the book a read." Rin admitted. The librarian smiled, handing Rin the book.

"Good for you. The Tulips deserve to be treated better, and I think you might be able to lead them to victory." The compliment brightened Rin's complexion, and she smiled gratefully at the librarian.

She exited the library in a better mood then when she entered. Sure, she had lots of work to do, but it seemed like everybody was behind her.

"Principal's office, principal's office..." Rin looked at the signs next to each door, trying to find where Principal's Minami's office was. She had booked an appointment with the busy principal, because apparently that was a _thing_ , and was ready to sell the Tulips as best as she could.

Her eyes brightened when she had finally found the door she was looking for. She stepped up, knocking lightly onto the window to try and get the woman's attention.

Soon the door was opened for her, and Rin stepped in silently, nodding to the principal in acknowledgment as she took a seat in front of the desk.

"Hoshizora-san, it's good to see you." Minami greeted, taking her seat across from the young girl, who kept her face the same.

"Principal Minami, it's good to see you too." Rin replied. Principal Minami smiled, moving her things to the side, and Rin could feel the woman was now focusing on her.

"Seems like you have been taking the initiative, I'm impressed." The principal admitted, tapping a pencil on the desk. Rin could tell the woman was just trying to intimidate her, she was quite the opposite of her daughter.

"Yep, it's time to pull the Tulips out of the dark area they've found themselves in. But, I don't think that's entirely their fault." Rin said, crossing her arms. Minami laughed, repeating the younger girl's action as she raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you mean by that, Hoshizora-san?" The principal tested, and Rin resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"You know exactly what I mean. The majority of school funds are going into Rose and Lily run projects and clubs, while the leftovers are being dumped into the Tulips, which really isn't much at all." Rin shot, trying to keep her tone level as she challenged the woman in charge of the school.

Minami smirked, rising from her seat to sit on the desk instead.

"You aren't to afraid to speak your mind, aren't you?" Rin shrugged.

"It would be foolish for you to get rid of me. As of now, I'm one of your best school representatives, and I'm not talking about the flower divisions. I'm talking about popularity, which is what I don't understand." Rin said, leaning back into her chair. "Why are you pushing so much for popularity when people aren't even enrolling into our school. Not everybody is amazingly talented." Principal Minami laughed, placing a hand on the Tulips representative's soldier. Rin wanted to move her hand away, but held back the urge.

"Rin, so ignorant. The students aren't the most important thing in the school. Well, they are, but we use their talents to get popularity, which in turn earns us sponsors and more funding. It's not that difficult to see." Principal Minami scooped her hair behind her ear.

Rin looked up at the woman, shocked.

"Wait a minute," Rin began, standing up from her chair, causing the woman's hand to slip off of her shoulders. She leaned her hands onto the desk, looking the principal in the eye. "This is no school. This is all a big money grab, isn't it?! You scoop up all the talented kids in the country, tell everyone your giving five star education-which your not by the way-and then try to sell us off to universities or colleges or whoever the hell wants us so you can 'prepare' us for our futures!" Rin raised her voice, stopping herself from yelling. She didn't want to attract the attention of the people outside.

Principal Minami held Rin's gaze for a few moments before she moved herself off of the desk, clapping lightly as she took a seat back into her chair.

"And finally, somebody is smart enough to understand what's going on here. That took a while." The woman smirked, folding her hands politely.

"Wait, so nobody else has found out?" Rin asked in shock. "Wouldn't the parents of these kids want to know?!"

"Why do you think no parents are ever here? Parents can't visit during the school year. And since all these kids care about are the flowers and their talents, they forget to tell their parents about how shitty this school education really is." Rin looked wide eyed at the principal. They had everything worked out, somehow. The media thought they were great, they had sponsors standing behind them, they had the parents tricked, and the students just went along with everything that was happening.

Rin walked towards the door, but Principal Minami's voice stopped her.

"Uh-uh-uh, little Tulip. You won't be telling anybody about this conversation." Principal Minami said. This time Rin did roll her eyes.

"Oh, and why's that?" Rin growled, not turning to face the principal. The woman laughed.

"Well, because, you wouldn't want me to tell your father where you are? He's _so_ worried about you." Principal Minami laughed louder when Rin spun around, anger gleaming from her eyes, hatred coursing through her veins.

"How the hell do you know about my father?!" Rin yelled, slamming her fists onto the crooked businesswoman's desk, which caused her to laugh harder.

"I-know-everything-about-everyone-who-goes-to-this-school." The woman articulated with a dark tone, her voice lowering an octave.

Rin closed her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white in frustration. She had no idea a school could be so crooked when everything looked so perfect on the outside.

She heard the older woman rustling through her desk, and she looked up to see Principal Minami walk over to her.

"Here," the woman dropped a ring of keys into Rin's hand. "These are the keys to every single room in school. Every representative gets one, so use it wisely." Rin was surprised, this opened every single door in school.

 _Does this woman realize what exactly she's giving me?_ Rin wondered.

The principal cleared her throat when she took her spot back in her seat. "So Hoshizora-san, what exactly did you come here for?" The familiar, sweet and warm tone reappeared in Minami's voice. Now that Rin realized it was fake, it disgusted her.

Rin wanted to just storm out of the principal's office, but she needed to at least get some of the things the Tulips asked for. Those girls were her top priority, anyways.

"There are a few things wrong with the Tulips dorm that I need fixed-"

"Ah-ah-ah, I can't do anything with your Tulips." The principal said, causing Rin's mouth to drop.

"And why the hell not?" Rin barked, and Minami shook her head.

"Now Rin, Section A subsection B rule three clearly states no profanities." There was definitely a teasing tone in her voice, but it wasn't playful, it was cynical. _Didn't she just cuss a few moments ago?_ "The real reason that the lesser part of the funding goes into Tulips is because there aren't enough members. If you can get enough members to balance out with the Roses and the Lilies, I would be happy to fix everything within your dorm."

"What?! That's impossible!" Rin screamed, meeting her wits end with this teacher.

"Hoshizora-san, please keep your voice down. Now, I need to get back to work, so please leave." Principal Minami brushed the girl off, who was now fuming with anger.

"You're crooked. Crooked and severely fucked up." Rin didn't stay for the woman's reaction, but she could hear her cackling loudly when she left the room.

 _Nani mo kamo shinsen na koto ga shitai_

 _Surubeki wa osoraku binetsu na love_

 _Shiranai na? Dare ga kuru no ka na?_

 _Kajitsunara torareru no macchau no_

Rin walked down the hallways of Otonokizaka. She could tell the other students were trying to stay out of her wake, mostly because you could _feel_ the anger emanating off of her.

She stomped down the halls. Rin wasn't too sure on where she was going, she assumed she was heading towards her dorm, but she didn't want to face the Tulips with the bad news. The impossible news.

"Hoshizora-san, we need you clean up in the bathroom, the toiled flooded." A voice said. Rin couldn't whether it was a Lily or a Rose, but she wasn't in the mood.

"Clean it up yourself fat-ass." Rin spat. She almost laughed when she heard the surprised voices of girls around her, but ignored them as she continued her storm through the hallways.

Her mind raced, different thoughts appearing in her head as she tried to figure out what was going on in this school. Rin needed to summarize everything she knew about the school, fast, before things get worse.

Rin had never felt so driven to do something, but this was just _disgusting_ , _crazy_ , Rin couldn't describe it, but the track star knew she had to do something. No one else was going to.

"Hoshizora!" A voice boomed down the hall.

People stopped talking when the voice was heard. The hall became completely silent, and was replaced by an eerie feeling that hovered throughout the whole school. Rin wasn't surprised, though, she had predicted this.

She turned around to see Ayase Eli heading straight towards her, an angry look on her face.

"Ayase, how ya doing this fine hour?" Rin asked with a smirk, crossing her hands over one another. The girl didn't seem amused though, and she had a dead glare on her face that would probably make other people cry in fear.

"I heard that you said some pretty awful things to one of my Rose Reds. Is that true?" Eli asked, tapping her right foot impatiently against the floor, as if that was supposed to be intimidating to Rin. The orange haired girl rolled her eyes, running a hand through her short bangs.

"Ha! You're girls are too sensitive, Ayase. You ought to whip them into shape." Rin joked, knowing that it would only make the Rose Red girl angrier. But Rin was feeling bitter and frustrated, and might as well take it out on the big bitch of the school.

Eli glared daggers at Rin, taking a step forward. "Listen, I apologize if my Rose's say something out of context, but you have no right to speak about them that way." Eli growled.

"Uh-huh, so we aren't allowed to get mad when you Rose's and Lilies get to order us around." Rin spat back, expecting a reaction out of Eli. But this girl was good, almost alike to the principal, and was able to keep her calm and cool even though she looked royally pissed off.

"Now, Section D subsection D rule seven reads that whenever a flower does something out of context to a member of another division, the representative is aloud to due as she pleases with them as long as it isn't something that is sexual, involves physical violence, or risks the mental state and physical state of the flower in any which way or form." Eli said automatically. Rin hadn't gotten to Section D, but with all of these god awful rules this one wasn't too crazy to Rin.

But just to make sure, Rin grabbed the book from her backpack and flipped through the pages, stopping when she reached Section D.

"No way, that's a damn rule." Rin said in awe, closing the book in defeat to make eye contact with Eli, who was currently smirking. "Okay, what do you want?" Eli thought for a few moments, rubbing her chin in thought.

"I know, I want you to wash the Lily White windows for me." Eli decided, shocking Rin.

"Why them? I thought you guys hated each other." Rin asked in confusion.

"One of my Roses did the same thing to a Lily as you did, so hopefully this will get them off of my back. You can do it whenever you want, but I want it done by midnight. Efficiency is key. Now, if you'll excuse me." Eli finished, leaving Rin to her thoughts.

"You've got to be shitting me." Rin groaned, walking away in anger.

 _Katai kiiro? Momo iro ni seicho_

 _Yurete furue teru_

 _Sa kimi ga te o nobaseba...yes!_

Rin sprayed more cleaner against the dirty windows. The track star wasn't sure how long into the process she was, but this seemed like the thousandth window she had cleaned.

It was past curfew, but thankfully she was a representative, so she was okay. Nozomi had given her permission to enter the Lily White dorm, so she was covered there as well.

So now she just had a couple more windows to go and she would be home free.

Everybody was fast asleep, or at least in their dorm rooms, so Rin had the empty halls to herself. She would've asked Hanayo or Honoka to join her, but she still didn't want to tell them about the bad news with the crazy principal.

Rin found her eyes glancing over at Kotori's room. It was a couple doors down from where Rin was currently scrubbing, and had stairs that led to the bottom floor of the dormitory adjacent to it.

The track star nearly knocked over a tall potted plant as she looked at the door, quickly stopping it from rocking so that it wouldn't tumble over and break.

She sighed in relief, and continued her job, counting the minutes.

As Rin was about to finish cleaning a window, she heard steps coming up the stairs.

"Who the hell is up at this hour?" Rin wondered, turning her attention to the stairs. She was shocked when she saw the Rose Red representative's blond hair, and quickly ducked behind the plant instinctively. "What the...She's definitely not supposed to be here." Rin mumbled to herself.

She watched with cautious eyes as Eli looked carefully around the area, and then she crept slowly over to Kotori's door, which raised an eyebrow from Rin.

 _Okay, this is starting to get creepy._ Rin admitted as she watched Eli knock very lightly on the door. To Rin's shock, the door opened to reveal Kotori who was looking up at Eli in shock.

"Holy shit." Rin said under her breath when Eli leaned in and captured Kotori's mouth in one swift movement. The two girls stumbled into the principal's daughter's room, still kissing fiercely as Eli closed the door behind them.

Rin stood up from where she was hiding and quickly reached in to her back pocket to grab her phone. She held it up, quickly snapping a picture, and thankfully was able to capture the two before Eli had finished closing the door behind them.

The orange hair was surprised by her actions, but sighed in relief, and turned her attention back to the windows to calm her self down.

 _I don't think I was supposed to see that._

 **OOOOOOO! AND THE PLOT THICKENS!**

 **Haha, yep seems like things between Kotori and Eli are getting interesting, and Rin accidentally gets a peek.**

 **And now Rin knows more about the fishy Otonokizaka. Yes, I realize Principal Minami is sort of a shitty person in this story. PLOT CONVENIENCE.**

 **Now yet again, just to repeat, this is a NozoEli and a KotoUmi, so do not be afraid. Rin is sort of like the little detective of the story, and she's going to be going snoop doggy dog mode later on.**

 **The next chapter POV is Kotori, and the one after that will either be Nozomi or Umi or Rin again.**

 **Also apologies for no update yesterday I have been super busy with school starting back up and some other shitty things happened today so I'm just not having a great week :( but, I hope you guys are! And I think I will post twice tomorrow just to make it up to you :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Kotori paced around the room nervously.

Nozomi wasn't oblivious, she was starting to notice what was happening between Kotori and Eli. Well, what had happened, not _happening._

...Right?

With one shaky sigh, Kotori grabbed her bag and exited her room. Lunch would be over soon and she hadn't had anything to eat.

Usually the students would eat in the main cafeteria, but Kotori hadn't been feeling well and Nozomi took her back to the dorm. She had rested for a little while, but decided to get back to school.

The brunette walked down the stairs at a slow pace, not wanting to face Nozomi again. Every time she saw the girls face she felt a wave of guilt. Kotori had taken away something from Nozomi, something she knew Nozomi wanted. Eli's first kiss with a girl.

Now Kotori couldn't really know that for sure, since it had been years since Eli and Nozomi's fall out and then their dramatic meeting at Otonokizaka, but Nozomi had told her that Eli was into boys.

Kotori laughed at that. Now that obviously wasn't true. Or at the very least Eli was bisexual.

Sure, it was just one kiss, it could have just meant nothing. But Kotori could tell, she could tell that Eli was feeling the same way as her.

Or maybe, deep down somewhere she was _hoping_ Eli felt the same way.

So what about Umi?

Truthfully Kotori will always be in love with Umi. Every time she sees the girl she has to stop herself from staring at her raw beauty, her coolness. Kotori wished Umi would come over and just sweep her off of her feet, but she won't ever do that now.

Not after everything that's happened.

Their relationship, even their friendship is so far gone that Kotori had to squint just to catch a glimpse of it.

And as much as it hurt, it was just the way it was.

"Kotori-chan~" Nozomi called, Kotori grinning at the honorific. Kotori smiled to the girl, who was currently sitting alone at a small table in the Lilies cafeteria.

"Good afternoon Nozomi-chan." Kotori repeated, causing Nozomi to smile as well "You seem to be in a good mood." Kotori said, taking a seat next to her close friend who had gotten food for her.

"Yeah, Principal Minami just told me that they were going to build a fountain in front of the Lily dorm like I requested." Nozomi explained. Kotori patted her friend on the back.

"You realize Hoshizora-san is going to be after you now." Kotori warned, causing Nozomi to laugh.

"Yep, I am shaking in my boots~. But did you see what she said to one of the Rose's earlier today? I had to hold in my laughter." Nozomi asked.

"No way, what did she say?" Kotori asked, placing a forkful of warm pancake in her mouth. She moaned lightly at the taste, and followed it by the burning sensation of black coffee. Kotori liked it that way, surprisingly. She also liked breakfast for lunch, which Nico always said made her 'feel weird' quote on quote.

"Well, the girl tried to get her to fix the leaky sink, and Rin called her, I repeat, a fat-ass." Nozomi laughed loudly this time, followed by Kotori who was clutching her stomach.

"That girl might be kind of aggressive, but at least she sticks up for herself." Kotori said, Nozomi nodding in agreement.

"Did you see Umi yesterday?" Nozomi asked, a little wary at first to see how Kotori would react. Though Nico never really wanted to talk about Maki, Kotori was a little more easy to Nozomi's teasing, and Nozomi was usually willing to talk about Eli a little bit here and there.

Though it seemed to be quite the opposite for Eli, Maki, and Umi. Kotori learned that they made some type of a deal promising each other that they would never talk about herself, Nozomi, and Nico.

It made no sense to Kotori. It wasn't like they could just be ignored.

 _Plus they're the ones who broke our hearts, not the other way around._ No, Kotori couldn't be standoffish about this. She had been rude to Umi as well, and in her eyes, Nico should have forgiven Maki a long time ago.

But it was a little different for Nozomi.

And this is why the situation Kotori had landed herself in with Eli was so crazy. This is why she could not get involved with this girl.

"Kotori? Kotori? Are you thinking about Umi maybe~?" Nozomi teased, and Kotori blushed. She had been thinking about Umi, but she had also been thinking about Eli. Again.

She tried to hide her guilt.

"No, of course not. Now, can you please tell me about what you saw Umi do?" Kotori asked, taking another long sip of coffee.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see a look flash across Nozomi's face. It only lasted a second, but Kotori knew that Nozomi had seen something.

 _Crap._

"She was staring at you all lunch hour, and all her fan girls got so jealous~. It was hilarious to watch, especially since you didn't notice at all." Nozomi giggled at the memory, causing Kotori to flush deeper.

 _Umi was looking at me?_

"Well, I bet Eli was looking at you too." Kotori tried to counter, but this seemed to trouble Nozomi instead of make her flustered. "What's wrong Nozomi?" Kotori asked worriedly, putting a hand on her friends shoulder.

"It's nothing Kotori. Trust me." Nozomi smiled. Kotori obviously knew it was fake, but decided to to press the matters.

 _Eli must have been out of it the whole lunch hour. I know I was._

 _Hashiri dasu beriberiitorein_

 _Amakute suppakute_

 _Kagami-san oshiete yo_

 _Dou ka tobikkiri kawaiku shite yo_

Kotori walked down the empty hallways alone. She had to go to the washroom during Science class and was now on her way back.

It felt a little creepy being on her own, maybe it was because Kotori was easily spooked, but she couldn't rid the feeling that somebody was following her.

After she could have sworn hearing footsteps, she turned around to see none other than Ayase Eli walking a few feet behind her. The girl had no idea that Kotori was there, and she was absentmindedly reading over some papers in her hands.

Kotori stood, frozen in fear as Eli headed straight towards her. It only took a few seconds for Eli to lightly bump into her.

"Oh? Sorry for that." Eli apologized, only looking up for a split second before side stepping around Kotori, continuing on her way. "Wait a minute."

Eli spun around, wide eyed when she made eye contact with Kotori.

 _Just my luck_.

"Eli..." Kotori trailed off, her mouth clamming up as her tongue became dry. She had no idea what to say, they hadn't spoken in days.

"Kotori." Eli paused, before walking over to the brunette. She got pretty close before she stopped, only standing a short distance away from Kotori. "I'm really sorry for...Well, you know..." Kotori felt her cheeks go warm as she watched Eli's face flush as well. The awkwardness and embarrassment hung in the air, chasing away the fears of before with new ones.

"U-Um...It's not your fault Eli." Kotori squeaked out. Eli shook her head.

"No, I'm the one who..." Eli paused before speaking more in a whisper. " _Kissed_ you, so this isn't your fault. I don't want you to feel guilty for my actions." Eli said warmly, her normal perfect stature becoming more calm, vulnerable. Her blue eyes softened, and her lips were turned up into a smile.

Kotori was surprised by this side of the Rose Red representative. She was informed by Nozomi that Eli was only like this when she was alone with Nozomi. Well, in the past obviously.

Kotori instinctively wrapped her hands around the taller girl's neck, pulling her in for a hug.

"Don't worry about it Eli, it's in the past, okay?" Kotori whispered into the girl's ear, but it didn't feel, _right._ It was like Kotori was forcing herself to say it, she didn't really want to, but she knew it what was _right._

 _Right?_

Eli returned back to her usual cold demeanor and pulled away from the hug. She nodded to Kotori in acknowledgment.

"I will see you in the halls..." Pause. "Minami-san." Now everything was uncomfortable again. Now they were nothing but enemies by association on two different sides of the playing field.

Kotori nodded, swallowing. She walked past Eli and headed back to her class.

Kotori couldn't stop thinking about her.

Umi was usually the one who consumed her thoughts. When she woke up, fell asleep, was talking to her friends, Umi would always be there in the back of her mind.

But now, Kotori couldn't stop thinking about Eli.

She laid on her bed, clutching her pillow tightly to her chest, confused on all the emotions she was feeling. It was true, she _liked_ Eli, she couldn't deny it.

Kotori had no idea where these emotions came from. They only talked once! Sure, they kissed, but that had been out of the blue. Was it that easy for a human to like another one? Is that all it took?

Kotori wasn't sure, maybe emotions worked in a different fashion based on the person you are interacting with. Or maybe Kotori fell in love easily. She didn't know, she just didn't know, and she had to accept that.

And now she was hopelessly in love with Umi and had an unrequited crush on Eli, who was in love with Kotori's best friend who felt the same way, but at the same time they hated each other.

 _This makes no sense._

Kotori smashed the pillow against herself, groaning in frustration as she was tempted to throw the pillow against the wall. But that would be unladylike so she resisted the urge and settled for placing the pillow gently next to her.

Her eyes looked over the room until they stopped on the clock that hung above the door.

"Wow, it's already almost eleven?" Kotori mumbled in disbelief, surprised she had been thinking about everything for so long.

She should be relieved. She no longer had to feel guilty about Eli since they were definitely over-well, they never really started-and now she was back to where she was before. But that wasn't really that great either.

 _"_ _Umi!" A young Kotori knocked eagerly on her neighbors door, waiting for the shy girl to finally open it up. She knew her blue haired neighbor was standing behind the door, probably thinking about whether she should open the door or not, but Kotori's thoughts were put to rest when it was finally opened._

 _"_ _H-Hello Minami-san." Umi greeted. Kotori giggled, grabbing Umi's hand and pulling her outside._

 _"_ _I thought I said to call me Kotori! Now come on, we're going to the park to have ice cream!" Kotori said cheerfully._

 _"_ _W-Wait, I have to c-close the front door!" Umi stuttered out, waiting for Kotori to release her iron grip so the girl could close the door._

 _Kotori rolled her eyes, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. She was really in the mood for chocolate ice-cream, and Umi was slowing her down._

 _"_ _Okay, let's go...Kotori." But when Umi had finally said her name, it lifted Kotori's spirits completely._

 _"_ _Yay! There you go Umi, now let's go get ice-cream!"_

Kotori found herself smiling happily at the memory. Umi was always going to be the anti-social shy kid on the outside, and the calm and cool logical thinker on the inside.

And Kotori would always be Umi's first friend.

Kotori sighed, it was getting late and she'd have to get to bed soon enough. She slipped off of her bed, walking towards her closet to put on her pajamas when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who could be up at this hour?" Kotori mumbled to herself, walking to the door in surprise. She opened it up and had to cover her mouth to stop from yelping in surprise.

"Aya-" Kotori was cut off suddenly by a soft feeling on her lips. It was familiar to Kotori though, it was Eli's lips.

This was different then the first time when Eli kissed her. This was rough, intense, _lustful_ even. Kotori couldn't even think as she felt Eli's hands wrap firmly around her waist.

So Kotori decided to stop thinking.

She placed her hands on Eli's shoulder and kissed the girl back with the same intensity as she felt herself being pushed back into her room. Eli closed the door behind them, and then pushed Kotori quickly against the wall, catching the brunette off guard.

Through the overwhelming burning sensation in her body, Kotori could feel Eli's tongue begging for entrance, and Kotori couldn't help but concede to the Rose Red representative who moved her tongue around wildly, trying to get a taste of everything.

Kotori moaned softly, which seemed to excite Eli for she continued tasting Kotori.

The principal's daughter broke away from the kiss and moved to Eli's neck, wanting to get a reaction as well. She nipped softly at the girls collarbone, earning a light moan from the blond.

Kotori began to suck harder, prepared to leave her mark on the girl who was gripping Kotori's hips tightly, moaning again in ecstasy. Eli grabbed Kotori's head and lifted it upwards, capturing her lips again in another heated kiss.

Kotori shivered when she felt Eli's hand slip under her shirt and slowly creep up her spine, leaving a cool feeling every where she touched countering the heat that was pumping through Kotori's veins.

Eli stopped when she reached Kotori's bra, and tugged at it playfully, earning a smile from Kotori. She had never felt such lust before, and it felt a little weird that it was coming from her best friends...

 _Nozomi. I can't do this to Nozomi._

It took a bit, but Kotori was able to force herself to pull away from Eli, keeping her at arms length. Eli looked at her perplexed, but when she understood what she just did, she nodded in understanding at Kotori.

"S-Sorry about that." Eli's face flushed a deep scarlet color and she ran a hand through her hair. "I just couldn't stop thinking about you." Eli flushed a even darker color as she started to fidget, causing Kotori to laugh.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you either Eli..." Kotori admitted, blushing a color similar to Eli's as she felt herself grabbing the taller girl's hand. "But this isn't right. What about Nozomi? What about Umi?" Kotori was shocked when Eli pulled her hand from her grip, and instead slipped it around Kotori's waist.

"What about them?" Eli said sternly, looking at Kotori with an unidentifiable look in her eyes that caught Kotori's breath.

Kotori exhaled sharply. "You know exactly what I mean Eli." Kotori repeated her point, but made no effort to move Eli's hand. "If they found out..."

"Everything would go to hell, I know that." Eli began, cupping Kotori's cheek with her free hand. "But don't you want to try this Kotori? I mean, do you even know the full story between Nozomi and I?" Eli asked.

Kotori thought for a few moments before she shook her head.

"I don't blame Nozomi for not telling anybody." Eli admitted, sighing shakily before she continued. "It's a pretty long story, so I'm not going to go over all of it, but here's the gist of it."

 _"_ _Dad, gay isn't a choice! I didn't choose it, I didn't want it, but that's the way it is okay!" Eli screamed at her father, who had given her the longest lecture that explained how being homosexual was a choice, and it wasn't without a homophobic slur every second._

 _"_ _Yes it is, Eli. You have to believe me, I just want you to have a good life." Her dad explained, trying to place his hand on her shoulder, but it was pushed away by the blond who took a step back. Eli's dad didn't yell, but that didn't mean he was any less mean at the moment. "Who is it? Who is the one who made you gay?" He asked._

 _It must have been the hundredth time her father had asked, and Eli had finally had enough._

 _"_ _It's Nozomi god dammit!" Eli yelled, running up the stairs to her room to cool off._

"So he dumped me off here at Otonokizaka so that I couldn't keep in contact with Nozomi." Eli explained to Kotori who looked up at Eli with tears in her eyes.

She couldn't even comprehend what it would be like if her parents hadn't accepted her sexuality. Her mom could be a little crazy at times, but she had been one hundred percent okay with Kotori liking girls, and that had been so comforting.

"That's got to be hard Eli, you're pretty strong." Kotori said, holding herself back from saying 'I'm sorry'. The last thing somebody wanted to feel was pity.

Eli smiled, and Kotori could see that her icy eyes were melting, demonstrated by the tears that were running down her cheek.

"That's not all."

 _"_ _Now, you sit here and write the letter or else I'll make_ _ **sure**_ _something bad happens to the girl." Her dad growled, causing Eli to shiver._

 _"_ _You better not hurt her or I'll...I'll..." Eli shook in anger. She could do nothing, she was nothing in comparison to her dad. He was a successful businessmen with thousands of followers and hundreds of thousands of dollars. He could do whatever he wanted to Nozomi._

 _"_ _If you aren't finished in two hours then I'll make sure to have a talking to Mrs. and Mr. Toujou." And with that he slammed the door behind him._

 _Eli sobbed on her desk, tears dripping onto the sheet of paper as she tried to force down the wrangling cries that were threatening to break out of her throat._

 _How was she supposed to write a letter on how much she hated Nozomi?_

"There is no way that Nozomi would have believed that you would say those things." Kotori said in disbelief, wiping the tears that were free falling down Eli's cheeks.

"Well, I wrote her a note on how much I hated her and then ditched her so I can kind of see how that affected her." Eli laughed bitterly, sniffling immediately afterwards.

"So how did Nozomi know that you came to this school?" Kotori wondered. She knew that she should probably drop it, but she was too curious by this point.

This question seemed to surprise Eli because her eyes blanked for a few moments before she shrugged.

"Actually, I'm not sure how she transferred here. But I know that she had no idea that I was here, since she blew up at me on her first day of school. But you know _all_ about that." Eli said, leaning her forehead against Kotori's. "Now, Nozomi hates me, and I still love her with _all_ my heart. But Kotori don't I still deserve happiness? I'm only human, I make so many mistakes, and I wish I could beg for Nozomi's forgiveness forever until she forgives me but it just won't work. And you...You make me happy." Eli admitted, sniffling again, her eyes now red and puffy.

 _Cute._

Kotori leaned in, kissing Eli softly before she pulled back slowly.

"I don't really know what this is Eli," Kotori admitted, kissing Eli again before she pulled back. "But all I know is that I really like it."

 _Onnanoko wa minna nayamu_

 _Tonikaku oshare wa saiyuusen_

 _Tomeru? Hazusu? Hito mawari_

 _Kami ni ribon niau kana_

 **AWW KAWAII AM I RIGHT BITCHES?**

 **So we finally learn a bit about Kotori's past with Umi. We really only got the tiniest glimpse of it, but it was there.**

 **But we got a pretty huge chunk of Nozomi and Eli's past, the most important part really, their fallout. Now we'll be seeing more of it later on, so don't fret, my friends.**

 **Next chapter POV will be a mystery since I still have no clue what I'm going to do with my next chapter. It might just be Rin because she is the "main character" but it also might be Nozomi or Umi.**

 **Also shoutout to all the Favorites and Followers, you guys are amazing people! And to everyone who reviewed, that being: BlackHawk, Guests(there are two, so thank you both :D), Nathy11, JayxNitro-thank you for all of your reviews, your always there to lift my day-, Toujou Elichika, Good ol Camay-this is still KotoUmi and EliNozo buddy :P-, Gladiara Alata, Rhyer, Nishikino Maki, and Jun, who holds a special place for being my first reviewer 3. But really, all of my reviewers are amazing and I decided I will start listing everyone who reviews because I owe you guys that much for giving this story a read! Now, I did promise that I would post two chapters today, so expect one in an hour or so :D**

 **So here is what is going on in the story now:**

 **Rin summarizing what she knows about Otonokizaka and looking for more information**

 **The 'hidden' relationship between Kotori and Eli**

 **Umi and Nozomi getting suspicious/jealous**


	7. Chapter 7

Nozomi Toujou was no idiot.

She wasn't saying that all the people around her were idiots, she just believed they were ignorant, unfocused.

But Nozomi was focused. That was why she was the Lily White representative.

She was currently in the computer lab, typing up a report for the construction of the fountain in front the Lily White dorm. She wanted to make sure it was perfect and that everybody in the dorm loved it.

"You know, you should attach camera's to the fountain, make sure nobody's sneaking into our dorm at night." Nico joked, playing games on the computer next to her.

"Great idea Nico-chi. I might as well ask for them to put on lasers as well so that we can shoot down whoever dares to enter." Nozomi said sarcastically, re-reading the document.

"I know. I'm kind of a genius if you haven't noticed." Nico boasted, crushing keys on the keyboard and making sounds of agony and intensity. The small girl sure could get into something if she wanted to.

 _Hitamuki ni nareru no wa suteki_

 _Rikutsu janai hitamukina kimochi_

 _Jiyu to yuki no rur o motteru kai?_

Nozomi watched with amusement as her friend mashed into the keys, yelling different things at the screen in a means of scaring it off.

With a playful smile on her face, Nozomi inched her face towards Nico's ear without her noticing, and when the time was right, she blew into it.

"Ah! What the..?!" Nico covered her ear, swatting her other hand at Nozomi who was giggling at her mischief. "I'm doing something here if you hadn't noticed!" Nico growled, returning to the game.

Nozomi rolled her eyes and faced her attention back on her own computer. She was proud with her report, and hit the print button, hearing the machine turn on behind her.

The Lily White representative stood up from her chair and walked over to the printer, grabbing the papers and stapling them together swiftly before she returned to her seat and shut down her computer.

Her eyes flickered over at Nico too see that she was still pretty into her game, so Nozomi would be stuck there for a while.

Sighing, she pulled out her notebook and flipped to a fresh page, deciding to use her free time to draw.

Nozomi wasn't an idiot.

She had seen Maki's notebook with all the pictures of Nico inside of it. Nico was sure that she had hidden it expertly, but Nozomi had easily stumbled upon it later on, thought it wasn't like she didn't already know what the contents of the booklet was.

Nozomi was a snooper, it was in her blood, and even though she regretted it afterwards, she was glad that she had received some new information. Nico hadn't really told her much about her and Maki's relationship, since she was the only one of the three who was completely uncomfortable talking about her past train-wreck.

All Nozomi knew about Nico and Maki's past friendship was that it involved Nico thinking Maki was insane and a flight of stairs.

 _As if that's supposed to make any sense at all_. Nozomi snorted, continuing her drawing with ease as her mind continued to roll.

"Okay, that's it. I quit. This game sucks. I want to die." Nico shut down the computer and rose from her seat, a look of defeat on her face that caused Nozomi to laugh.

The violet haired girl closed her notebook and followed her friend out of the computer lab. The hallways were filled with students, since school had just ended, but they were slowly starting to clear out.

"Nozomi, Nico!" A familiar voice called out, and the two girls turned to see Kotori jogging towards them.

"Hey Kotori." Nozomi greeted. "Nico-chi's sort of in a bad mood, she got beat by a computer~." Nozomi smiled cheekily, causing Nico to fume and Kotori to laugh.

"Yeah whatever..." Nico pouted as Kotori took her spot beside her, and the group of three walked down the halls. "So, what are we doing today?" Nico asked her two friends.

"I say we go to the track. They're having a mock track and field event so I kind of want to see." Nozomi suggested. Nico hummed, agreeing with the idea, but Kotori had yet to response.

Nozomi glanced over at her friend, who currently was biting her bottom lip, deep in thought.

"Kotori?" Nozomi said, lightly tapping her friend on the shoulder.

"Huh? Oh yeah, t-that sounds like a great idea." Kotori blurted out, laughing awkwardly afterwards. "Sorry I just zoned out."

Nozomi knew Kotori was lying. She was probably the worst liar in the world, and Nozomi wasn't sure if the girl thought she was getting by anybody or what, but she couldn't help but smile at her friend as she decided to drop the subject.

"Okay, cool. I'm going to head to my room to change." Nozomi announced, turning to head towards the dorm. Nico followed after her, but Kotori stayed behind.

"I-I'll meet you guys there, I have to go hand in my Math assignment." Kotori said, waving to her friends before she was gone.

Nozomi began her walk to the Lilies dorm, Nico stumbling beside her.

"Don't you think Kotori is acting kind of weird?" Nozomi voiced her thoughts, Kotori's actions still bothering her.

But Nico didn't respond, and Nozomi was starting to get annoyed by her friends as her eyes flickered over to the shorter girl. She seemed to be muttering things under her breath to herself.

"Nico-chi are you still upset over the game maybe~?"

"SHUT UP NOZOMI!"

 _Zenshin osorezu ni_

 _Yorokobi o wakachi atte_

 _Futatsu dake demo kanarazu mamoritai ne_

" _Eli-chi you're so mean~." Nozomi pouted, causing Eli to avert her eyes and blush at her friends childish antics._

 _"_ _Listen Nozomi, I'm not going to do it for you, so you can stop with your teasing." Eli said sternly, causing Nozomi to giggle as she nodded._

 _"_ _Okay, okay, I was going to do it eventually." Nozomi brushed her friend off, walking over to the arcade machine with a huff._

 _"_ _It's not even that hard Nozomi. You just move the crane around and hit the button." Eli instructed simply. Nozomi rolled her eyes._

 _"_ _I'm not dumb Eli-chi, I just thought you'd do it for me. You're hopeless at the art of romance~" Nozomi teased, which earned her a small shove from Eli._

 _"_ _Fine, fine, I'll help you okay? It'll be a team effort." Eli suggested._

 _"_ _Okay, that sounds good enough, I suppose." Nozomi giggled, causing Eli to raise an eyebrow, but she stood next to Nozomi and helped guide her to the perfect toy._

 _"_ _I've never seen such a cute panda." Eli said, holding the toy in front of her. "Sort of looks like you Nozomi." Eli held the stuffed toy next to Nozomi's head, trying to figure out what the similarities were._

 _"_ _I'm not sure if that is a compliment or an insult Eli-chi."_

 _"_ _Don't worry, it's definitely a compliment."_

The track team was one of the more popular teams, Nozomi noticed. They had around twelve members, the majority of them Rose Red's. Nozomi recognized a few Lilies, yet there were only two Lilies. Rin and Honoka.

They had both recently joined the team. Rin because, well, Nozomi knew that Rin was absolutely amazing, and Honoka because Rin joined.

Hanayo joined too...Sort of. She was the towel girl.

"I've been wanting to see Hoshizora run since she got here." Nico said. Nozomi watched her eyes that were studying the orange haired girl who was currently engaged in a conversation with Hanayo. Honoka was standing off to the side, hopping up and down energetically.

Nozomi knew what was wrong with the girl.

"Me too actually," Kotori agreed, taking a bite of the corn dog that was at the concession run by the Tulips. Nozomi knew it was probably funds for their dorm since the school wasn't going to be supporting them any time soon. "I hear she's amazing." Nozomi hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, I read about her online. She's broken a few records here in Japan and even one world record." Nozomi recalled. The girl was definitely popular in the track and field world.

Nozomi heard Nico chuckle to her left and her eyes flickered over to the girl. "Look, the Roses are ready to fight her off. This is going to be hilarious." All the Rose Red's were banded together, talking fluidly, once in a while pointing at the orange haired girl.

"Speaking of Roses," Nozomi began, her eyes scanning in the area. "I wonder where the big three are at." This seemed to startle Kotori, who instantly straightened up.

"I wonder." Kotori said, scratching her neck as she averted her eyes.

 _This is starting to get really weird._ Nozomi admitted to herself. This was something she was going to have to watch.

"Okay, the mock event is about to begin soon. We'll be starting off with shot put, then high jump, four hundred meter dash, long jump, fifteen hundred meter run, one hundred meter sprint, three thousand meter run," Nico's jaw dropped at this. "Discus throw, javelin, and then finish it off with one hundred meter hurtles." The coach said, and all the people in shot put lined up.

"Go Lilies!" Nozomi cheered, making sure that her Lilies knew she was there for them.

"Go Roses!" Somebody yelled louder. Nozomi tracked the voice to none other then Eli, who was smirking teasingly at the girl.

Nozomi stuck out her tongue at the girl, rolling her eyes as she focused her attention back on the event.

"Stupid Eli..." Nozomi growled, not missing the look on Kotori's face.

Shot put ended quickly, the winner being a Rose, unfortunately, but high jump was a new event that Nozomi knew one of her girls was amazing at.

"Oh, here goes Sakura!" Nico said, pointing to the Lily girl who was prepared to jump again. There were only two girls left, a Lily and a Rose, and the Rose had just cleared the bar so it was now Sakura's turn.

The three Lilies watched as Sakura started at a jog, quickly breaking out into a full sprint as she looped around the bar, kicking her knee up into the air, giving her more then enough height to clear the bar.

"Nice job!" Kotori cheered, clapping loudly.

The next round passed quickly, Sakura clearing it and the Rose girl not.

It was now officially one for Roses, one for Lilies. Nozomi wasn't sure whether to include the Tulips or not.

The next couple of events passed by quickly, and it was now three-two for the Lilies.

"Great job Lilies!" Nozomi cheered, earning thumbs up from her Lilies who were chatting excitedly to one another.

"They are _so_ happy Nozomi-chan complimented them." Nico laughed, Kotori joining in with her.

"Ha-ha, you're _so funny."_ This comment merely made Kotori and Nico laugh further, which inevitably had Nozomi join in with them.

"Oh, here goes the track star." A voice in the stands said, and Nozomi flicked her eyes towards the track to see Rin chatting happily with Honoka. They were stretching at the starting line of the one hundred meter dash.

"Ah, Honoka is competing with her." Nico pointed out. "I wonder how that's going to be. Those two are pretty competitive with one another." Kotori and Nozomi nodded in agreement.

She remembered a time yesterday when the two raced down the hallways to their Math class, leaving poor Hanayo in a daze behind them.

"This is going to be entertaining." Kotori commented, taking another bite of her corn dog.

"The one hundred it about to begin. Racers, please line up in your lanes." Nozomi's eyes were on Rin as she lined up in the number one lane, which was no surprise to anybody else, and prepared herself.

There was a few seconds of waiting, and then a gun fire.

The racers darted down the track, and Nozomi was surprised when Rin ended up in the back of the pack, just jogging behind the others who were sprinting.

And then it happened.

The girl broke out into a full out sprint, immediately passing everybody else with ease, shocking everybody in the stands. Nozomi smiled when she saw the cockiness practically dripping from the wide grin on Rin's face.

Rin pulled far ahead, and was past the finish line by the time everyone was a third of the way through. Nozomi could see the coach patting the track star on the back, who looked like she hadn't broke a sweat.

"She definitely lives up to her name, don't you think?" Nico asked.

 _She sure does._

Nozomi felt a chill rush through her spine from the cool evening air, pricking whatever skin was left unclothed and vulnerable. The warm liquid in the mug she was holding gave her hands temporary warmth, but the long sips she was taking was sure to extinguish whatever warmth she had.

Nozomi could say that she didn't know why she was outside, but then she would be lying. She knew why she was outside, she wanted to take a break from studying. The artist hoped that she had done enough work to get her a decent mark on the exams, but she was sure she'd be perfectly fine.

It had been a few weeks since the track event, and now November frostiness was beginning to remind everybody that it was here for a reason. Christmas would be coming up soon, which got Nozomi excited, but she wasn't a huge fan of the snow that was lightly fluttering down from the clouds above.

The school had been as odd as ever though. Kotori seemed to be disappearing often, she wouldn't be present at lunch, and even sometimes at breakfast, leaving herself and Nico to wonder what was about with their good friend.

Umi had even approached Nozomi one lunch hour asking the girl if she had seen Eli, who seemed to be missing in action as well.

Nozomi wasn't an idiot. The two were clearly doing something with one another.

But Nozomi gave Kotori the benefit of the doubt. The girl was her best friend, along with Nico of course, and she owed her that much.

Kotori had been the one to pull Nozomi out of the dumps, anyways.

 _Nozomi Toujou, the new student to Otonokizaka Academy, stood in front of the doors with a dead expression in her eyes._

 _Time had passed since the incident, but it still affected Nozomi everywhere she went, following her around like it was attached to her hip. There was no escaping, Nozomi had tried._

 _She entered the academy, not really looking forward to much, when she saw a brunette girl's face brighten when Nozomi entered the school._

 _It had been a long time since someone had been happy to see her, next to her parents._

 _"_ _Ah! You must be Toujou Nozomi! It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Minami Kotori, but please just call me Kotori. It's kind of weird to be called Minami when that's the principal's name, if you catch my snow drift." Kotori rambled, shaking Nozomi's hand politely before bowing._

 _Nozomi made no move to return the greetings, but it didn't seem to bother Kotori who grabbed Nozomi's hand in one swift movement._

 _"_ _We better get moving, Toujou-san! So little time, so much to do." Kotori mumbled the last part, more to herself, but Nozomi had heard loud and clear._

" _I"m so happy you choose Lily White! We are really in need of members since the last one hundred people choose Rose Red." Kotori admitted, bringing a meal on a platter to Nozomi, clearly trying to make her feel at home._

 _Nozomi just nodded, graciously accepting the food. She tried not to show it, but she hadn't had such a high class meal in a long time. Instant noodles and ice cream is your best friend after a break up._

 _Well...It wasn't really a break up. More like a total dump. And they weren't even dating._

 _"_ _Eli-chi..." Nozomi said in disbelief, shell shocked at seeing her best friend at a different table in the cafeteria._

 _Kotori hadn't seem to hear the girl, but had followed her eyes to Eli._

 _"_ _Oh, that's Ayase Eli. She's a member of the Rose Red, she's always following the representative around, trying to learn from her. She was sick on the first day so she wasn't there." Kotori explained. Nozomi nodded, feigning interest as she looked at the blond in total...The emotion was indescribable._

 _And then it was replaced by anger._

 _Hot, steaming anger that overwhelmed her body like a way she had never felt before. The note's contents repeated over and over in her mind as she felt herself unconsciously rise from her seat._

 _"_ _Toujou-san, you going to grab more food?" Kotori asked. Nozomi shook her head, her skin a pale color, her face had contorted into a mixture of pain and pure, raw anger that could only be channeled from the darkest part of somebody's being. "Oh god."_

 _Nozomi marched straight towards, hatred emanating from her pores as she grabbed Eli's shoulder roughly._

 _"_ _Huh...?" Eli only had to shift her head slightly to see the girl she hadn't seen in forever. "No way in hell." Eli gasped. "Nozomi...?"_

 _"_ _..."_

 _"_ _..."_

 _"_ _Eli..." The violet girl laughed. But it wasn't a comforting laugh, wasn't one that showed she was happy to see Nozomi, it was cynical. It silenced everybody in the room, and left a creepy aura that hung over everybody's head. "It's so fucking great to see you." Her head slowly tilted upwards until Eli could get a good look at Nozomi's face. Nothing but undeniable pain. "Are-you-happy-too-see-me~?"_

 _Nozomi sobbed into Kotori's shoulder, who was whispering different things into the violet girl's ears. She had no idea what Kotori was saying, but it wasn't like it was going to be making a difference any time soon._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry Toujou-san." Kotori really had no idea what was going on. Nozomi had started screaming things at Eli in the middle of the cafeteria, and thought nobody could really understand what Nozomi was saying, everybody knew that Eli had done something_ _ **bad. Really bad.**_

 _And now it seemed like Rose Red and Lily White was more divided then other. Lily White being on Nozomi's side, Rose Red being on Eli's side. And of course Kotori was going to be there for Nozomi, the poor girl was crying a storm._

 _"_ _Kotori! Kotori!" Nozomi called through her sobs. The girl had been switching between mumbling and crying out, and Kotori had to stop herself from squeezing the girl to death, as if it would relieve her pain._

 _"_ _Shh, it's okay. I'm right here, I promise. I'm not leaving you anytime soon." Kotori cooed, running a hand up and down Nozomi's back comfortingly, earning another round of sobs from the artist. "I am going to be there for you no matter what, Nozomi."_

Nozomi felt tears running down her cheeks at the memory. Kotori had been there for her. The girl had been her ride or die, they had cultivated the Lily White morals together. The ones who pray together, stay together.

Nico had joined the board the next year, where they had to deal with the situation with that girl and Maki. The situation was all but familiar to Nozomi and Kotori who took Nico under their wings and helped her through the year.

And now everything was at a standstill.

"Nozomi Toujou?" Nozomi quickly wiped her wet cheeks, hoping that her eyes weren't too red as she turned to the source of the voice.

Rin had to only do one thing. She needed to make the Tulips get more members.

But how was she to do that? There was no transfers between flower divisions, right?

Wrong.

Rin had read that rule book clean. There was no rule that she hadn't heard of, and now she knew exactly what she had to do.

 _Section D, subsection F, final rule: No flowers can transfer between the divisions, unless they are the representative. Then they can make one transfer they want the year they are in power. If a representative does in fact transfer, all the other flowers in the division are giving the option to transfer as well. Once all transfers are completed, an election for a new representative will begin immediately._

That's right, Rin was going to destroy these divisions from the inside. And then she'd scoop up the dirty remains of what was left of the representative's, and wherever they went, everybody will follow.

"Nozomi Toujou?"

"Yes, Hoshizora-san?" Nozomi asked in surprise of seeing the Tulips representative in front of her.

Rin held her phone in front of her, a smile across her face.

"I think I have some information you would value." Rin said, dangling the phone with her finger. "It involves two people I think you know quite well. Minami Kotori and Ayase Eli." Nozomi's eyes widened as she looked at the orange hair, looking at her eyes for signs of dishonesty. But this girl seemed to be telling the truth.

"...What do you want in return?"

"Oh, that's easy. I just want information as well, just as simple as what I'm about to give you. Isn't that easy?" Rin's tone and demeanor seemed different. She was usually very nonchalant and blunt, cussed often, and wasn't afraid to piss anybody off.

But this Rin had an eerie feel to her.

"...You've got yourself a deal."

 **NOZOMI-CHAN JUST MADE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL HERSELF.**

 **Haha, hello ladies and gents. This was a longer chapter compared to the other too, so I hope that you liked it.**

 **Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming! There is quite a bit going on, as you can see.**

 **Rin needs more members for the Tulips if she wants to do anything, so now she is planning on diving head first into the drama between the six girls of the Roses and Tulips. I wonder if Honoka or Hanayo have anything to do with it?**

 **Speaking of those two, they have been hitting the back burner lately. But they will be largely in the next chapter, which will be a Rin POV.**

 **And we yet to have Maki or Umi POV'S. They will be important later in the book. I always preferred slow burn romance, sorry if you don't feel the same way.**

 **So this chapter we finally learn the majority of the NozoEli storyline. There really isn't too much more too piece together involving that duo.**

 **I'm just going to say, get ready for Christmas. Shit is going to go down on Christmas, just so you know. Shit always goes down on Christmas**

 **Thanks for every Review and Follow/Favorite :D And on another note, if you haven't favorited or followed already, please please please do! It keeps the inspiration pumping and really helps me write! But, don't feel required to, it's no obligation.**

 **Anyways I don't know when the next update will be. Since there was a double update today there may or may not be another tomorrow, since I need to do some catch up on my chapters. But maybe if we get enough followers or favorites I'll post more often~~LOL just kidding I'm not that type of person, I'll try to update as quickly as possible. Hope you enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 8

Rin looked over the notice board, content with her and her friends work so far.

"Okay, this is going pretty well guys, if I do say so myself." Rin admitted, walking over to the bed to take a seat next to Honoka and Hanayo who were chattering to each other while taking their break.

Honoka hummed in agreement. "I'd say, this is pretty complex. How did you get all of this information exactly?" Honoka asked.

Rin grabbed the ring of keys attached to her jeans and swung them around her finger.

"They seem to give representative's a lot of power for what we are. I have a key that get's in to the office, so I sneaked in after curfew and got all their school records." Rin said cheekily, causing Hanayo to gasp.

"Rin! You were lucky you didn't get caught!" Hanayo shook her head in disapproval, but Rin could tell the girl was still impressed with her.

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure that in another life I am a ninja." Rin boasted, running a hand through her orange hair.

"Yeah right." Honoka rolled her eyes, causing Hanayo laugh.

Tap. Honoka's hands were tapping against the mattress.

Rin walked back over to the notice board and knelt down in front of it.

The six pictures of the six girls each took up a section of the board. Eli at the top, followed by Maki to the right, then followed again by Umi. At the bottom was Nozomi, to the left was Nico, and it finished it off with Nozomi.

Different colored strings represented the relationships between each and every girl. For example, a red string was connected between Eli and Kotori since they were currently dating.

Rin had done some more investigating too see if the kiss between the two had been more then just out of the blue, and had caught them going at it again behind the school after sharing some mushy lovey words. It made Rin want to puke, but she held back the temptation.

A black string was connected between the girls who didn't really have any sort of relationship between one another. For example, Nozomi and Maki never spoke to each other and were only connected to one another because of the people they associated with.

There were no strings that connected the main three parings: Nozomi and Eli, Kotori and Umi, and Maki and Nico. Rin didn't know anything about their relationships, so she couldn't make a good assumption.

Honoka and Hanayo knew nothing either, since they had joined the school after the six girls as well.

Rin knew for fact that the relationships didn't interlock with one another. Through Rin's observations, Nozomi didn't seem to have any problems with Umi and Maki, and even engaged them in conversation sometimes. It seemed like the problems only lied with the other person.

The track star rubbed her temples in thought, trying to not to get frustrated. She would figure out the relationship between these people later.

Everything she knew about each person was sprawled across their respective areas. Different notes and newspaper clippings were attached that had anything to do with the girls, even in the slightest.

Apparently Eli's father was the CEO of a electronics company that was extremely popular. He was also known for making multiple homophobic comments.

Did that make Eli homophobic? No of course not. She was eating Kotori's face just a few days ago.

The girl was expected to be the successor of the company, and apparently in the media's eyes the Rose Red representative was more than happy to take over, but Rin wasn't so sure. The media couldn't ever be one hundred percent trusted that's for sure.

Not much else was known about Eli, though she went to the same school as Nozomi before she transferred to Otonokizaka for her freshman year.

Which led Rin to Toujou Nozomi.

Her mother and father were businessmen that traveled around often, and that was all that was known about Nozomi, other then the fact that she went to the same school as Eli for the same time, except she left for Otonokizaka a year after Eli.

If the girl's mother and father traveled often, wouldn't they take Nozomi with them? But Nozomi had went to the same school as Eli for the same time period, so the girl must have stayed with a relative or something to still attend the school.

Rin was still confused. She assumed the girls were friends before they transferred, because clearly through their interactions they had some kind of history, but what was the blow out?

Rin also wasn't sure if Nozomi had followed Eli to Otonokizaka or if she had done it totally unintentionally. It seemed strange that if Nozomi _had_ followed Eli that she would wait a whole year. Yet what were the chances that it had been unintentional?

Shaking her head, she decided to move her thoughts away from that train-wreck to move on to the next one.

Nishikino Maki, one of the most talent musicians to ever walk the face of the earth. Rin had only heard the girl play one time through the open windows of the Rose Red dorm, and had stayed just to listen.

And yet her parents, who were both doctors, expected the girl to follow in her footsteps and be the successor of the Nishikino Hospital. Some people were just unbelievable.

Her relationship with Nico was far different then the one between Eli and Nozomi's, at least, through the papers they were.

They both transferred to the school at the same time, and apparently at first at both chosen Rose Red for their flower divisions. In the middle of the year, Nico somehow was eligible to transfer over to the Lily White division. Rin wasn't sure why the girl _had_ transferred, but it could be the result of a fallout between her and Maki.

Which meant that Rin was now thinking of Nico's situation.

Apparently the girl came from an average family in an average town. There was absolutely nothing unique about the girl, asides from her beautiful voice, and apparently she was also good at playing the violin.

The girl had entered a national television singing competition where she first got discovered. Though she hadn't won, since the judges said she was _too young_ , she had been recruited to attend Otonokizaka and Maki had followed her, since she was also talented enough to get in as well.

Apparently she was also recruited to enter an all girl idol group, but for some reason she had completely disappeared from the media after that and the group had been formed without her.

This left Kotori and Umi.

They were childhood friends, Rin assumed, since there were records of all the schools they attended and they each went to the same one at the exact same time. It could have just been coincidence, but based on how often Umi stared at Kotori throughout the day, she could healthily assume that her assumptions were correct.

They even were neighbors for a long time before both girl's transferred to Otonokizaka when they were old enough to go. It made sense, Kotori was the principal's daughter, and Umi seemed to follow the girl wherever she went.

Kotori joined Lily White while Umi joined Rose Red. Rin wondered if that could be a result of a fall out, or maybe they just choose two different flower divisions, since it wouldn't make sense if they had somehow had a fight during the short time of joining Otonokizaka.

Or maybe they did. Rin couldn't know for sure.

"Rin, why are you so obsessed with these six anyways?" Honoka asked, hopping off of the bed to take a spot next to Rin.

Rin kept her eyes peeled on the notice board, barely acknowledging Honoka's presence.

"Because, if you mess with the leaders, the whole thing crumbles. And they are kind of making it easy, since they seem to all have a problem with one another. Once their 'followers' find out how screwed up the situations are, they'll want to switch to the Tulips." Rin explained.

"Okay, but I thought people couldn't leave their flower divisions." Hanayo reminded in confusion, still laying on Rin's bed.

"There's this rule, way back in the rule book that says that the representative is allowed to transfer to another flower division. If the representative does in fact transfer, all flowers in the division are presented the option to transfer as well." Rin recited, the rule not leaving her mind once.

Hanayo leaned up from the bed, resting on her elbows. "Okay, but Eli and Nozomi are the representative's, so what's going to make them want to transfer after we totally destroy their lives." Hanayo said bluntly. It was on purpose, though, since she wasn't so sure she agreed with Rin's plan.

"Now that's where we can go both ways. If we do meddle with their relationships, it can either go really well or really poorly. If it goes poorly, then we go with Plan A. Plan A is that Eli and Nozomi are relieved of their position and they vote up a new representative who will transfer to the Tulips. If somehow everybody wants to be friends again, which I'm not really expecting, then Plan B will start. If I can fix these peoples relationships, they'll be in debt to me, obviously. Of course, I'm no psychiatrist so I don't how _that_ would happen." Rin mumbled the last part under her breath.

"Wow," Honoka yawned. It was getting late. "You've really thought this out, haven't ya?" Rin cracked a smile.

"Hell yeah. We're not getting anything from that poor excuse of a principal, so might as well take it into my own hands." Rin hadn't told Honoka and Hanayo about the whole ploy behind the school, but she did eventually tell all the Tulips that the talk with the principal hadn't gone too well. Rin stood up and stretched out, taking a big yawn as she walked over to her bed. "I'm tired. It's getting pretty late, so I'm going to have to kick you guys out." Rin said, grabbing Hanayo's hands and pulling her off the bed in one swift movement.

"Rin I could have gotten up myself you know." Hanayo pouted, rubbing her arms as she walked towards the door. Honoka was already there, her right hand on the handle.

"Okay Rin, we'll see you tomorrow!" Honoka bid farewell, slipping out of the door, dragging Hanayo with her.

"A-Ah! Goodbye Rin!" And the dynamic duo were gone.

Once Rin thought they were a far distance away, she grabbed her phone off of the desk and headed out the door. She jogged down the stairs, not worrying about attracting attention since all her Tulips were heavy sleepers.

The track star was surprised on how fast the weeks had passed, and now it was November. Unfortunately exams were tomorrow, and Rin hadn't really studied since she was focused on the whole _ENMNUK_ plan-the name was all the girls names-for the past week.

Rin sighed in relief when she saw that Nozomi was still standing outside of the Lily White dorm. The girl must have been out for a whole hour at this point, Rin had first seen her outside of her room window.

"She'll be out there a little longer if she's already been out this long." Rin mumbled under her breath. Nozomi was sitting on a bench a few feet away from the Lily White entrance, and the girl was sobbing lightly, so Rin took the opportunity to sneak into the Lily White dorm. This was the perfect opportunity to sneak into the Lilies representative's dorm room and do a little snooping.

 _Amai Fruits dance dandan rizumi kawaru_

 _Isoide yo_

 _Ne watashi no koto o mitete_

 _Tsukamaenakucha furimukanai wa_

 _Oikake raretai_

 _Dakedo iwanai dakedo ienai_

Nozomi's reaction had been interesting.

Rin first told Nozomi that the girl could not by any means tell anybody that Rin showed her the picture, and Nozomi swore not too. Rin wasn't so sure if this was too reliable or not, but she was pretty sure if her name did get thrown out, it wouldn't be _too_ bad since Nozomi is probably going to be at Kotori's, or Eli's, throat.

She then opened up the camera roll and showed Nozomi the picture. Nozomi's eyes had widened for a split second, before her usual look adorned her face. She then asked Rin if she could get a closer look, so in turn the track star handed the girl the phone.

Rin noticed that Nozomi thought at first it was fake, but after a closer glance, Rin could see that the regular cool, calm, and collected girl was starting to crumble. Her eyes became glossy, and her fingers tightened around the track stars phone.

"Thank you for this, Hoshizora-san. I had my suspicions." The words seemed forced, but Rin didn't regret showing the girl the picture at all. This was all part of the plan.

"No problem. Now, I hope I can get some information from you." Rin said, taking a spot on the bench next to Nozomi.

Rin could tell the violet girl wanted nothing to do with Rin at the moment, but she forced a smile and nodded.

"Okay, what do you want?" Nozomi asked, clearly holding back a sob, or at least a river of tears, and Rin held back a smirk from this.

Sure, inside Rin felt horrible about what she was doing. But it had to be done, it had to be done.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about Yazawa Nico and her relationship with Nishikino Maki." Nozomi gasped at the question, standing up from the bench, nearly spilling her hot chocolate out of the mug.

"Why would I tell you that?" Nozomi growled. Rin could tell the girl was attempting to take out her anger on the track star, but she had expected this as well, and merely raised an eyebrow.

"Why? Well maybe because we made a deal, that _you_ agreed to." Rin reminded, whistling afterwards. This aggravated the violet haired girl further who took a step towards Rin, her foot sinking into the snow.

"There's no way..." Nozomi paused. Rin assumed it was for dramatic effect. "There's no way in _hell_ that I would tell you anything about Nico-chi without her permission. Who the hell do you think you are?" Nozomi barked. This statement caused Rin to laugh.

"I don't know. I'm a track star, a Hoshizora, maybe I'm a god. It doesn't matter who I am, all that matters is that you _will_ be telling me what you know about Yazawa." Rin spoke more sternly this time, taking a step forward to meet Nozomi in a heated gaze.

Nozomi crossed her hands, tapping her foot against the snow in defiance.

"And how do you think you're going to make me talk? You're just a Tulip, you have no power." Nozomi spat, reminding Rin of her god awful position.

Rin laughed again, this time starting small, and then escalating into a loud obnoxious laugh that faded into the snowy winds.

"I have _no_ power? I have no power?! Take a look at this, why don't you?" Rin challenged, grabbing a letter from the inside of the coat pocket she was wearing. She dangled the envelope in front of Nozomi's eyes, her smile crooked. "Do you recognize this, _Nozomi?_ "

Nozomi gasped for the second time, her hands clamping over her mouth as she looked at the letter in surprise and fear.

"H-How did you get that you bastard?!" Nozomi screamed, eliciting another dark laugh from Rin.

"Easy. You sat out here for an hour crying about your hard knock life while I snuck into your room." Rin explained, swinging the note back and forth and back and forth.

Nozomi tried to grab it, but Rin quickly moved it back.

"Ah-ah-ah, you're not getting this back until you spill about your good old friend Nico-chi."

"Don't call her that!" Nozomi yelled, trying again to grab the letter, but to no avail.

"How does it feel, to not have any power for the first time in a long time?" Rin wondered, speaking in a teasing tone as she held the letter above her head. "I wonder, I wonder what it is like?" She repeated, raising her free hand to her chin in fake thought.

Nozomi swallowed a sob, tears trickling down her face. Rin hadn't expected to see this side of Nozomi. Defeated, humiliated, and Rin almost wanted to wrap her hands around the girl. _Almost._

"Please...Please Rin, give it back." Nozomi begged, tears free falling from her chin to the snow, making a light patter every time they hit the snow.

Rin shook her head.

"You'll get this back when I give it to you. Now, if you don't tell me about Yazawa and Nishikino, and you better tell me _everything you know_ , I will make as many photocopies as I would like and post them around the school. Everybody will now how awful of a person Nozomi is." Rin laughed again. The note contents seemed to be a letter from Eli to Nozomi, telling the girl about how awful she was and all the bad things she had done or some stupid shit like that. Rin wasn't really sure, but she knew if the note got out it would be hell for Nozomi and Eli. Everybody would be asking about it, that's just how people were, always feeding for information.

And by Nozomi's expression, she did not want to deal with that.

Nozomi slumped down onto the ground, breaking out into tears as she nodded her head violently.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you everything I know. I'll tell you. Just please, don't do anything with the letter."

 _Maki watched from the sidelines, book in hand. She was pretending to be reading the book with disinterest, but couldn't stop her eyes from flickering up every once in a while to Nico._

 _The girl was definitely in her comfort zone with the seven other girls. They were currently going over steps for a practice routine too see if the girls would make it as a idol group._

 _The redhead should have been happy. Nico was having so much fun, laughing and singing with the other girls who were just like her, talented and prepared to take their futures by storm._

 _But Maki... wasn't._

 _If this idol group did end up forming, Nico would be leaving Otonokizaka at the end of the year to go on tour, leaving Maki alone._

 _And Maki didn't want to be alone._

 _So the pianist watched her best friend slip away._

 _And after a month of waiting, the group had been decided. Nico had made it through._

 _The girl had been so excited. She was crying with joy and ran around the campus gleefully, not caring who was looking at her. Of course, Maki had to follow awkwardly, trying to tame her friend who was clearly scaring the other students._

 _"_ _Nico, calm down!" But her voice came upon deaf ears as Nico sang happily. It felt like a cheesy scene from a god awful kids movie, but it was nice. Maki had to admit it was nice._

 _But it was also bittersweet._

 _Nico would, for sure, be leaving at the end of the year to be educated along with her new idol members on the rode. It was an odd situation, but that what was happening._

 _But what bothered Maki the most was the fact that Nico didn't really seem to care._

 _Nico hadn't mentioned once her leaving of the school. Her leaving Maki behind. She just ignored, pretending it wasn't happening as if it was supposed to make Maki believe it to._

 _But Maki wasn't naive. Nico was._

 _So it was at a shopping trip at the mall that Maki did something that she would surely regret for the rest of her life._

 _It had been spur of the moment. Nico had been happily chatting about the tour and all the songs they were going to say, and Maki was trying to keep herself from lashing out at her friend._

 _They were approaching the stairs to the bottom level, and Maki had accidentally tripped on her shoe._

 _She was able to catch herself, but in the split second she noticed that she had fallen towards Nico, and this could be the perfect opportunity to shove Nico without it looking like Maki had done it on purpose._

 _But why the hell would she do that?_

 _She may have not wanted Nico to leave, but she wasn't crazy. Right...? Of course not, Maki was just as sane as anybody else._

 _So then why did she follow through with her awful, awful plan?_

 _The sobs of Nico at the bottom of the stairs brought Maki back to life as she saw her friend at the bottom of the stairs._

 _The redhead's eyes widened at the sight as she immediately regretted her move. A horrible feeling pumped through her veins as she felt herself getting colder and colder._

 _Nico's body didn't look natural. Her left leg was bent in a way that Maki had to avert her eyes to stop herself from hurling. Maki wasn't sure if there was something wrong with Nico's arms or not since she had looked away so quickly._

 _"_ _Somebody call 9-1-1!" A good Samaritan had yelled._

 _Maki had sat with Nico through her sobs. The group had ultimately been formed without Nico. Stardom doesn't wait, unfortunately. This made Maki feel even worse._

 _"_ _How could this happen?" Nico mumbled through her cries, and Maki felt her eyes get glossy as an unnatural, unbearable feeling formed in the pit of her stomach, slowly branching out like some type of virus._

 _"_ _I don't know." Maki squeaked out._ _ **Lies,**_ _was all that she could think._ _ **You're a dirty liar.**_

 _"_ _You're lying." Nico had said at first, still sitting in the hospital bed. Everything was white. White walls, white floors, white beds. It was all the same, and Nico had spent days in here while Maki was only there for a few moments._

 _All Maki could do was shake her head, tears flowing down her cheeks as she felt relief fill her body as she finally confessed. Quickly followed by the most pure, raw fear that she could ever feel._

 _"_ _YOU'RE LYING! RIGHT MAKI?"_

 _Nico got new friends._

 _It was the Nozomi girl and her friend Kotori._

 _Maki had no idea how Nico was able to transfer to another flower division, but she did, and now Maki sat alone at the lunch tables._

 _Nico seemed to be happy on the outside. She was talking vividly to Kotori, using big hand motions and there was an excited gleam in her eyes. She could also see that Nozomi started talking, and then immediately afterwards a scowl appeared on Nico's face._

 _Maki smiled, but then it faltered afterwards._

 _ **That should be me. But it's all my fault.**_

 _Suddenly two girls sat down across from her. Maki looked up at them, surprised that somebody had come join her after the weeks of being alone._

 _"_ _Screw up?" Was all Ayase Eli said as she began to indulge in her meal, her eyes still peeled on Maki._

 _"_ _What? What do you guys want?" Maki asked disinterestedly, twirling one of her red locks as she averted her eyes. She didn't need these people reminding her of her mistakes._

 _"_ _We did to." Umi spoke this time, taking a spoonful of hot soup. Maki watched as the steam rose from the bowl enticingly. "But we can't fix our mistakes. Maybe you can."_

 _The blue haired girl and the blond sat with her everyday, until somehow they had become Maki's best friends. The redhead wasn't sure how it happened, but truthfully, she was so happy it did. She was getting really, really lonely._

 _Eli and Umi had helped her with her plan. They visited Tsubasa, the girl who had started the idol group, and pleaded that she gave Nico a second chance._

 _Every week the girl turned them down, but they were always back the next, coming up with new cases for the girl in a hopes that Tsubasa would finally see the light._

 _At last, she did._ _ **At last.**_

 _Maki stood outside of the Lily White dorm, Eli and Umi behind her._

 _"_ _Okay, you got this Maki! This is going to be amazing." Umi said excitedly, before she cleared her throat and blushed, surprised by her actions. "U-U-Uh, I mean..." Eli cut her off._

 _"_ _She'll be so happy and you'll win her back in no time." Eli said, patting Maki on the back. Maki smiled gratefully at her friends, telling them she'd be back soon enough, and then she entered the Lily dorm._

 _It was a little late, but before curfew. A few Lilies gave her funny looks, since she really wasn't supposed to be there, but she brushed them off as she walked expertly through the dorm. She had been to Nico's room thousands of times, she hadn't forgotten now._

 _She took a deep breath as she stood in front of the black haired girl's dorm. Exhaling slowly, Maki worked up all of her courage and knocked on the door._

 _Nothing went according to plan. Nothing went according to plan._

 _Maki had to repeat it for emphasis on how the plan did not go well._

 _And now she was sobbing outside of the Lily dorm into somebody's shoulder-she didn't know if it was Umi or Eli since she had just grabbed someone randomly-and they were trying their best to comfort her._

 _"_ _This is bullshit." Eli swore, rubbing small circles on Maki's back. "We work for weeks to get her a solo album, I repeat a solo album, and she takes it but still doesn't forgive you? Who the hell does that?" Eli growled._

 _"_ _Someone whose fucking insane that's who." Umi did not swear often, actually Umi didn't swear at all, but Maki knew that the girl was beyond pissed at this point._

 _"_ _I-I-It's n-n-not y-your fault g-guys." Maki stuttered out, still sobbing._

 _"_ _It's not your fault either, Maki." Eli cooed softly. "It's nobody's. You are a strong person for not lashing out at her, and I am so thankful that I sat at your table that day." Maki nodded, taking her head away from Umi's-it ended up being the blue haired girls-shoulder._

 _"_ _I love you g-guys." Maki said silently as Umi worked to get the tears off of the redhead's face._

 _"_ _We love you too." Umi said, smiling at the girl, Eli sitting next to her._

"Interesting, interesting." Rin said, walking circles around Nozomi who was still crying in the snow. "So what's your take on this? Do you think Nico should have forgiven the girl or not?" Rin asked, tapping thoughtfully on her chair.

"Why do you care you bitch?!" Nozomi cried out. She was no longer sobbing, but tears were trickling down her face.

"Whoa, no need to get fiery. I was just wondering. I can tell I've put you through enough though." Rin ended softly. She knew there was no way to explain her actions to Nozomi, who probably thought she was bat-shit crazy at that point, and knew the violet girl would never like her.

But Rin was okay with that.

"Can I please have the letter?" Nozomi asked, standing up from her spot on the ground. Rin shook her head.

"Nope, I'll be taking this. But I promise I won't be doing anything with it." Rin swore, placing her hand over her heart.

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Nozomi barked. A harsh wind blew through the area, the girls hair flowing in the wind, and Rin watched at Nozomi wrapped her arms around herself to keep cool.

Rin sighed, stripping of her scarf as she stepped towards the girl, surprised when the violet haired girl let her wrap the scarf around her neck.

"I would never do that to you." Rin spoke, for some reason feeling oddly sentimental as she looked into the eyes of the girl she just humiliated. "I'm sorry for falling to such drastic measures. Here," Rin tucked the envelope into Nozomi's hand. _What am I doing? This is not a part of the plan. I need something against her so she won't rat me out!_ "You deserve this."

The two girl looked each other in the eyes, nobody moving. Rin could feel Nozomi's hot breath, tickling her face. The wind continued to blow, but nobody made a move to do anything.

Rin was even more surprised when Nozomi made no move to stop Rin from wiping off the violet haired girls tears.

"I know you probably hate me now. I know you probably think I'm a bad person. But please, _please,_ " Rin paused. "Don't think I did this with the intention of humiliating your or bullying you. I'm merely doing this for one reason." Rin said, leaning closer to the girl. Rin paused for a moment, thinking about what she was doing, before she continued with her plan and softly kissed Nozomi's forehead.

"W-What is that?" Nozomi stuttered out. Rin could tell the girl was emotionally overwhelmed, and couldn't deal with the situation properly.

"To bring Tulips to justice." Rin finished, turning around and walking away from the girl. "Keep the scarf." And with those final words, the girl was gone.

Nozomi stood in the snow, her hand resting on her forehead where Rin had kissed her. How had the girl had such power over her? Nozomi wasn't sure. The track star had completely humiliated and embarrassment, cleaned her of all of her secrets, but yet had come off as this great person at the end who was deeply sorry for her actions.

Nozomi had even let her kiss her.

The Lily White representative felt her cheeks flush. It had been nice, she hadn't been kissed in a long time.

That flush immediately disappeared.

Kotori had kissed Eli.

 _Kotori had kissed Eli._

 _ **Kotori had kissed Eli.**_

 **RIN IS A SATANIC BITCH WHO CAN STILL MAKE THE LADIES FALL FOR HER. HUH. THAT TAKES SKILL.**

 **Anyways, I better clarify this now before anybody gets the wrong idea. Just because Rin kissed Nozomi on the forehead does** ** _not_** **mean their in love. Lol some people get that idea for some reason so I just better mention that there is absolutely no romantic feelings between the two.**

 **And now things are being spiced up dramatically. Nozomi knows that Kotori kissed Eli, Rin knows about Nozomi and Eli's past** ** _and_** **Nico and Maki's past, so all she has left is Kotori and Umi before she traps them all.**

 **Well, Rin doesn't know everything about Nozomi and Eli's past. So her next POV is her working on that.**

 **And finally a Maki POV. It was just for a flashback, but I thought I owed it to everybody. Plus I wanted to write in her point of view, come on, it's Maki.**

 **Shit is going down, and Christmas is still coming.**

 **That's right bitches Christmas is coming.**

 **Anyways thanks to everyone who reviewed. That being** ** _Jun Sakamato, JayxNitro, a Guest, good ol' Camay, a few from BlackHawk-thanks a bunch for that :D-and a new one from MaryLoves!_** **Thanks for giving this story a read!**

 **Thank you everyone for Reviews and Follows/Favorite. They are all very much appreaciated. The next POV will be...uh...Eli...? I think it'll be Eli. Yeah. Yeah it'll probably be Eli. Oh, and if we hit 30 reviews or 30 follows it'll be a double upload tomorrow! Acutually it will probably be a double upload either way lol :P orz**


	9. Chapter 9

_**WARNING! ELI AND KOTORI MOMENT COMING UP LIKE RIGHT NOW SO IF YOU ARE CAMAY, I ADVISE SKIPPING. LOL.**_

Eli slipped her hand under Kotori's shirt, running her fingers along the girls spine. Eli smiled through the hot kiss when she felt Kotori shiver.

The Rose Rep representative ended the kiss, instead leaving light, feathery kisses that led all the way to Kotori's collarbone where she began to suck and nip to her delight.

"Ah, Eli!" Kotori moaned, grabbing Eli's shoulders firmly while the girl continued to suck at the lightly tanned skin, eliciting a few more light moans. She didn't forget her hand that crept towards her girlfriends bra, and she started playing with the fabric.

"Eli." Kotori spoke in a low tone which sent a rush of lust through the blond's body. Eli had never gotten to do this with anybody before, unless it was behind her father's back, but it was always with boys.

But doing something like this with Kotori, against her father's wishes, was exciting. It was a feeling that far surpassed having any boy play around with her. _She_ wanted to play with her girlfriend. _She_ wanted the girl to moan her name.

With a surge of courage, Eli slowly slipped one finger underneath her girlfriends bra, still sucking away at different spots on her skin.

Kotori inhaled sharply at this, and Eli made no move to continue. She wasn't going to force the girl to do anything.

"Go ahead Eli, I _want_ you too." Kotori whispered into Eli's ear, and Eli stopped her work on her girlfriend's neck, shivers now running down her own spine.

With a gulp, Eli reached around to the back of the bra, releasing it from its holds after a few stumbles and fumbles which elicited light giggles from Kotori.

The Rose Red representative blushed at her nervousness, averting her eyes from Kotori's teasing smirk.

A knock on the door ended the moment.

"Kotori! Dinner is going to be ready soon!" Nico's voice called outside of the door, knocking again impatiently.

"Shit, this really was a bad idea." Eli whispered to Kotori who was quickly trying to get her bra back on.

"I thought it was a _great idea Eli._ " Kotori said huskily, giggling afterwards at the blush that appeared on Eli's face.

"I better hide. I'll be under the bed, text me when the coast is clear." Eli said, kissing Kotori before she squeezed under the bed.

"See ya Eli." Kotori said, walking out the door, not without swaying her hips side to side in a means of teasing Eli.

"You little..." Eli mumbled, heat rising in her face at what she just did. That had been one of the more... _intense_ make out sessions that had been happening more frequently over the weeks.

They now were doing it in whatever spot they could get alone. In the change room, wash room, behind the school, in some spot in the woods, and they even did it one time in the janitor's room.

That was the only time they could see each other.

It reminded Eli of her visual novel. It really was forbidden love. Eli would be completely screwed if anybody found out about her and Kotori's situation.

 _'Okay you can run away now Eli :P'_

Eli smiled at the text and quickly crawled out from under the bed, leaving the dorm room as quietly as she could.

To her right was the window which she would be using for her escape. She opened it up, looking down at the ground at the safest way to go about it. She wasn't too high up in the air, so even if she fell it wouldn't be deadly.

After a bit of maneuvering she found her self at the lowest height she could achieve, leaping off of the foot hold onto the ground. Pain shot up through her legs after making impact, but the Rose Red representative just brushed it off, content with her landing as she adjusted her tie.

"Ayase Eli." A voice spoke, clicking their tongue. Eli jumped back in shock, rearing her head towards the voice.

"...Hoshizora-san?" Eli said suspiciously. Rin whistled absentmindedly, walking towards the blond with a look in her eyes that Eli couldn't identify.

"You've been doing some _bad_ things haven't you Ayase?" Rin cut right to the point, clicking her tongue again while Eli felt cold sweats break out on her skin.

"...What are you talking about?" Eli tried to lie, but she knew the orange haired girl had seen right through her as she began to circle around Eli, clicking her tongue as she did.

"Seems like you are having an affair with the principal's daughter. I don't think your friends would approve. But you'd know that, your a representative, professionalism is your middle name." Rin spoke with a condescending tone, causing Eli to raise an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" Eli spat, quickly becoming irritated with the antics of the Tulips representative. Rin shrugged.

"Oh...I don't know. Maybe because I just watched you hop out of the Lily building. Isn't that suspicious?" Rin seemed to be asking herself more than Eli as she shrugged again, this time her movements slow as a means to emphasis her 'confusion'.

"I could have been doing anything. I have no involvement whatsoever with Minami-san." Eli retorted calmly, fixing her tie for the second time as her cold eyes made contact with Rin's playful yellow ones.

"But...I have this picture, and it sort of makes it look like you're eating Kotori's face, but maybe it's just my imagination?" Rin shrugged again, her whistling starting up as Eli's eyes widened in shock.

"What?!" Eli attempted to grab hold of the shorter girl, but she easily dipped out of the way, still whistling tauntingly.

"That's right, I have a picture of you two lip locking. It was the same night you sent e to do the Lily's dirty work. I think you recall the day?" Rin giggled, spinning around Eli who felt her heart stop.

"W-What are you planning to do with it?" Eli asked shakily, running a nervous hand through her hair.

What the girl didn't know was that Rin had already showed Nozomi the picture, but she wasn't planning on telling Eli anytime soon.

"I was thinking," Rin paused, raising a hand to her chin in thought. "Maybe I'd show it to Nozomi! She'd be so happy to hear something from you Eli, since that last time you sent her anything was that note on how much you hated the poor thing." Rin pouted at the end, before a smile broke out on her face again.

Eli's face froze. How did the girl know about the letter? The Rose Red representative was losing her edge as she adjusted her tie for the third time, her skin turning pale and her face becoming downcast.

"No way..." Eli trailed off, averting her eyes from the ginger haired girl. Why though? Maybe in fear. Eli wasn't sure, but this girl had suddenly become scary.

"But, I think I'll be nice. I won't show her the picture if you do-me-a-favor." Rin articulated every singe word, her whistling starting up again as she kicked her feet gently into one another.

Eli's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the Tulips representative. "What do you want from me?" Rin shrugged, her eyes looking over the area.

"I don't know. Maybe you could tell me why you wrote that letter to Nozomi. Oh, and I don't want any bullshit like it was a joke, I want the cold hard facts." Rin said, the playful and happy facade disappearing quickly as she crossed her hands over one another, staring down the blond.

"No way. Why the hell would I tell you that?" Rin chuckled, surprising Eli.

"Oh god not this again. You are just like your purple haired friend. Maybe you picked it up from her, this sense of justice, or maybe she got it from you." Rin shrugged again, walking closer to Eli with her phone in hand. "Here's the picture, so you aren't so skeptical about it. Now, tell me why you wrote the letter and I won't show Nozomi the picture." Rin said the last part sternly.

Eli's voice caught in her throat as she looked at the picture, recognizing it instantly, which caused a pit to form in the Rose Red girl's stomach.

"..." Eli eventually relented.

"Thanks for that Eli, you have been a great patient. A lot less tears then Nozomi. That bitch can cry for days if she wants to." Rin muttered the last part in an annoyed tone as knelt in front of Eli who had tears in her eyes.

"You're sick Rin. Sick." Eli spat, a gross feeling spreading through her body as ultimately the orange haired girl had defeated her. She was smart, in opposition to her marks and her dumbed down appearance.

This earned a throaty laugh from Rin. "No, not sick. I'm just solving a problem and you are your friends are the core of it. You'll forgive me later. For now, take this word of advice." Rin adjusted Eli's tie for her before standing up. "Avoid Nozomi at all costs. And don't let Kotori come in contact with her either or you are screwed." And with that, the girl was gone.

Eli let herself stay there for a bit, her mind reeling. Rin had sucked all of Eli's secrets dry. Eli relented about why she sent Nozomi the letter, because of her homophobic father, and had even confessed to Rin that she had feelings for Nozomi.

But obviously Rin already knew that one.

 _"_ _Hey, Eli-chi, do you need help with those papers?" Nozomi asked thoughtfully, Eli's face brightening when she saw her friend._

 _"_ _Ah Nozomi. Yeah, that would be great." Eli nodded, going back to the sheets as Nozomi took a seat next to her at the table._

 _Student Council had been overwhelmingly busy lately, that being mostly because of the Culture Festival that was up and coming. Eli had so much to organize and read over because of her position as the president._

 _Eli quickly became distracted, though, by the purple haired girl sitting next to her. She found herself stealing glances at her whenever she could without getting caught, and Eli was ashamed of herself for feeling this way for her friend when she clearly didn't feel the same way._

 _"_ _Eli-chi," Nozomi began, moving a paper from her pile to the completed pile in the center._

 _"_ _Y-Yes?" Eli asked, quickly returning back to her work._

 _"_ _Is there something on my face, because you keep looking at me~?" Nozomi teased, earning a blush on Eli's face._

 _"_ _N-No of course not...It's just that..." Eli trailed off, hoping Nozomi would just drop the question. But she knew Nozomi really wouldn't._

 _"_ _It's just that...?" Nozomi repeated, now looking at Eli with her full attention._

 _The president cleared her throat, averting her eyes from Nozomi's gaze._

 _"_ _You...You look pretty today Nozomi. That's all." Eli coughed afterwards, trying to break the tension, completely missing the light blush that appeared on Nozomi's face._

 _"_ _Oh..." Nozomi said simply, not helping the tension at all as she focused back on her papers. Eli mentally kicked her self, wishing she had just resided to now saying anything at all._

 _"_ _You look pretty too Eli-chi." Nozomi squeaked out, shocking Eli who kept herself from staring like a gaping fish at her best friend. There was no teasing tone whatsoever in Nozomi's voice, just genuine emotion._

 _Aishiteru banzai!_

 _Koko de yokatta watashitachi no ima ga koko ni aru_

 _Aishiteru banzai!_

 _Hajimatta bakari ashita mo yoroshiku ne mada gooru janai_

Eli and Kotori stood next to each other, Umi, Maki, Nozomi, and Nico standing before them with different looks on their faces.

Eli wasn't too sure on how this could have possibly happened. Nozomi had apparently cornered Kotori and asked her to come with her somewhere along with Nico, and Umi had done the same thing with Maki and herself.

And now everything was coming to light.

Ironic because it was now past curfew. It seemed like sneaking out late at night at become a casual thing for the girls of Otonokizaka. The cool air wrapped around the girl's, not letting go until they fled into the inside.

"I have gathered everyone here today, along with the help of Umi, to bring something to everyone's attention." Nozomi began, her eyes staying plastered on Eli, who was breaking out into cold sweats. This was the Rin situation all over again.

"What are we doing here Nozomi? I have stuff to do and people to see." Nico complained, holding her phone lightly in her left hand. The girl obviously just wanted to leave because Maki was there, which caused the redhead to scowl.

"Sure you do." It had been meant to be heard by nobody, but Nico easily picked it up and glared at Maki.

"At least I have friends." Nico challenged.

"I have the same amount of friends as you do Nico!"

"Could you please keep your anger to yourself?" Umi shot, speaking up for the first time since dragging Eli and Maki there, keeping her gaze on anyone but Kotori.

Kotori knew that the girl was avoiding her, and guilt formed in the pit of Kotori's stomach, but really that was just the beginning.

Nozomi was shooting death glares at the girl, and it was an unknown feeling to Kotori. Sure, people hadn't really always been nice to Kotori, but nobody had every _hated_ her. And now it was coming right from her best friend.

"Anyways," Nozomi continued. "I got some info from an _anonymous_ source that Eli and Kotori have been having an affair." Gasps emanated from Nico and Maki, who were both completely clueless on the situation.

"Wait...You're kidding right?" Maki said, but when she took a good look at Kotori and Eli's faces, she wasn't so sure. "Right?"

"Yeah Nozomi, quit shitting around. This isn't something to joke about." But a slight nudge from Maki acquired Nico's attention. "Hey don't touch me...Oh." Nico knew this was coming after the talk she had with Kotori. Sure, maybe her first thought wasn't that exactly, but she knew it was something along those lines.

So Nico had been a little more understanding, in other situations she would be completely pissed off that Kotori had hurt Nozomi, but Nico had let it happened. She had.

"Where's the proof?" Umi asked while Eli and Kotori stayed silent, making no move to cover their tracks as Nozomi pulled out her phone.

Rin had messaged her the picture with an anonymous cell number-Nozomi assumed it was either Hanayo's or Honoka's-and Nozomi had saved it to her camera roll.

Umi stared wide eyed at the picture, now really digesting the situation. At first she had suspected that Eli and Kotori may had been having an affair, due to Eli's disappearances and stuttering whenever Kotori entered a conversation, but a rush of coldness sizzled through Umi's body. This was the first time she had really understood what was happening. She wasn't oblivious anymore.

"Shameful...But fair." Umi spoke quiet at first, her tone rising a little, but stayed flat and barren. Her eyes flickered to Eli, a fearful and guilty gleam in her friends eyes, but eventually landed on Kotori. "I hope you're happy Kotori. I really do, please don't mistake my past actions for hatred or dislike." Umi nodded firmly in acknowledgment, leaving the scene as quick as she could. It would be humiliating to cry in front of everybody, cry in front of _Kotori._

"Umi wait!" But the blue haired girl was gone, quickly slipping out of Kotori's grasp. Kotori laughed bitterly and ironically in her head. Umi wasn't hers to own in the first place.

Nico grabbed Maki's hand suddenly, causing the redhead's features to widen in shock.

"W-What are you doing?" Maki asked and Nico began to drag the girl away from the scene.

"Don't think anything of this, I'm just getting us out of somewhere we don't belong." Nico muttered simply, exchanging glances with Kotori before looking at Nozomi one last time. She didn't want to leave her friend to fend for herself, but Nico knew her and Maki didn't belong. They just didn't. Not in this situation, at least.

This left Nozomi who was looking at the ground while Kotori and Eli awkwardly stood next to each other, tears falling down Kotori's cheeks while Eli looked guiltily and sorrowfully at Nozomi.

"Kotori...Please leave." Eli choked out, her girlfriend looking at her in surprise.

"No Eli, I won't leave you." Kotori said back sternly. Eli shook her head, a wistful look in her eyes as she looked at Nozomi.

"This isn't for my sake, it's for Nozomi's. So please Kotori..." Eli spared a look at the brunette who looked at Eli pensively for a few moments before she nodded.

"We'll talk later." Kotori said, kissing Eli quickly on the cheek before leaving the scene.

There was complete silence, the only noise being the howling of the wind and the whistling of the trees that shook Eli's bones. Nozomi was still looking at the ground, her body not moving at all as Eli's features softened.

 _What have I done?_ Eli wondered, regret forming in the pit of her stomach as she slowly approached Nozomi, moving subtly so Nozomi would know she was coming but she wouldn't scare the girl off.

Eli got close enough that she was pretty much hovering over Nozomi, but the closeness wasn't uncomfortable, it just wasn't... _needed._ Nozomi didn't _need_ Eli anymore.

...Right?

"Nozomi,I." Eli paused, lifting her left hand into the air slightly, before pausing. Apprehensively she reached for Nozomi's head, which was instinct.

 _"_ _Eli-chi, why do you always do this?" Nozomi asked, her eyes looking upwards at Eli's hand that was currently resting on Nozomi's head._

 _This question caused thoughts to stir in Eli's head. Maybe because she liked taking advantage of how much shorter Nozomi was then Eli, but that wasn't it. Eli didn't take enjoyment out of those sort of things._

 _"_ _I don't know..." Eli paused. "It just feels right, ya know?" Eli scratched her head with her other hand, smiling at Nozomi, who averted her eyes and blushed._

 _"_ _Eli-chi..." Nozomi trailed off, sighing before moving Eli's hand off of her head. She turned away from the blond, who had a confused look on her face, and began to walk away. "You're such a dummy sometimes."_

 _"_ _I don't understand you." Eli mumbled under her breath, quickly jogging to catch up with her best friend._

Just as her palm was about to settle on the girl's head, it was slapped away fiercely. Eli yelped in pain, clutching her hand to her chest as she looked at Nozomi, who looked absolutely peeved.

"Eli... What do you think you were trying to do there?" Nozomi asked, her eyes finally appearing, staring deep into Eli's eyes. It wasn't like usual where Nozomi would always look deep into Eli's soul, it was more like she was looking into her soul and then trying to strangle it.

Horrifying would be an understatement.

"Uh..." Eli trailed off. That was a great question actually. Eli and Nozomi weren't best friends any more, in fact, Nozomi probably hated Eli right more then ever before. "S-Sorry."

"Is that all you can say?" Nozomi asked, her hands curling into fists. "'I'm sorry', is that all you can say Eli?!" Nozomi spoke louder this time, her tone slowly increasing into a yell as Eli took a step back.

"..." What else was Eli supposed to say in this type of situation? She had no clue, so she resided for silence, waiting for the storm that was going to start any second now.

"You know Eli," Nozomi began, taking a step towards the blond who was now frozen in fear. "You've done some pretty awful things. But this, this was a new low, even for you!" Eli was shocked at the tears that began trickling down Nozomi's cheeks. Eli had only seen Nozomi cry a few times in her lifetime, for the girl had always tried to soothe others woes and never seemed to take care of herself.

 _Maybe this is her finally letting go? I think I should just let at her scream at me._ Eli decided, standing up straighter with a little more confidence as she waited for Nozomi to speak again.

"You've been hanging around...Sneaking out to do god knows what with my best friend! My best friend Eli! Like, what were you even thinking? Did you _think_ this would turn out well?" _No not especially._ Eli gulped as tears free fell from Nozomi's chin to the ground, before they disappeared into a patch of grass.

"And then what would have happened after you were done with her? Would you have written her a damn letter so she would never talk to you again, maybe?" Eli bit her tongue at this one, feeling a lump form in her own throat at the calculated jab.

 _Fair enough, fair enough._

"And then Kotori, sweet, happy Kotori would be stuck going through the same thing as me, and I would have to watch it happen _all_ over again! What are you doing with your life Eli? What are you trying to prove?!" Nozomi screamed, her voice finally hitting its peak.

 _Nothing, nothing at all._ Eli found her hands quickly wiping away the tears that were on her cheeks. She would not cry, she would not cry.

She would not cry for the second time in one day.

"So what? Aren't you going to say anything? Defend yourself?! Say something dammit!" Nozomi cried, sobs erupting from her lips as Eli watched silently. Nozomi walked closer to Eli, pulling her fists back, and Eli's eyes went wide.

 _Holy hell is she going to hit me?_ And Nozomi did.

But they weren't hard. No, they were practically light as a feather, and Nozomi punched Eli over and over again in the same place. Sure, there was a little bit of pain, but nothing to severely hurt Eli or cause bruising.

"You idiot..." Nozomi's voice lost its venom, it's fury, and returned to it's more quiet reserved softness. "Why won't you defend yourself?" Nozomi asked, her head leaning against Eli's chest.

Eli sighed, wiping the tears that continued to fall from her eyes, threatening to spill on Nozomi's purple locks.

"I-I don't deserve it Nozomi." Eli began. "I don't deserve your forgiveness. I'm sorry for everything I did to you, it's unforgivable and unexplainable." Eli wasn't going to beg for something she already knew she didn't deserve. That was what she was supposed to do.

...Right?

"Why did you do it Eli? Why did you write those nasty things? Why did you leave me?" Nozomi continued, her punches slowing down until they seized completely, the girl getting tired.

"I never wanted to." Eli accidentally let the words slip, biting her tongue as realization dawned upon her.

Why not tell Nozomi the truth?

Tell her that her father forced her to write the note? Her father had no control over her at this point, well maybe he did, but as long as things didn't get back to him it didn't matter anymore.

 _Fuck my father! I'm already dating Kotori, so I can finally tell Nozomi the truth! Why the hell didn't I do this earlier?!_

"My father made me do it." Eli began, earning a sarcastic laugh from Nozomi.

"Ha-ha sure, Eli, blame it on your father. I don't want your bullshit." Nozomi spat, her head still leaning against Eli's chest, her head moving at the deep breath Eli just took in.

"Yeah, I'd probably have the same reaction if I were you Nozomi." Eli laughed bitterly, tears trickling down her face. "But it's true. Didn't ever think my father would stoop to such levels, but I guess you can truly never know everything about a person." She laughed again, this time without Nozomi joining in who just made a sound of confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Nozomi asked curiously, her ears perking up. Good, Eli had her attention.

"You knew it yourself. My father was a total homophobe, he never approved of other people who were homosexual or bisexual. Hell, he wouldn't even hire people who were homosexual. What a fucking asshole." Eli laughed again, louder this time, the bitterness still evident in her voice.

"Okay, so what does that have to do with the letter?" Nozomi asked. Eli could hear the impatience in the other girls voice, even though it was very slight, it was still there.

"..."

"...Eli?"

"..."

"...Eli come on, spill."

"..."

"...Eli-chi?"

"It was you." Eli blurted out, almost missing the fact that Nozomi had called her by her old name. The name she heard every night before she went to bed and every morning when she woke up.

Eli had longed to hear Nozomi say those words for the longest time.

 _Man, it's been so long._

"...What do you mean by that?" Nozomi asked, brushing over the fact that she had just said 'Eli-chi'. This caused a frown to appear on the blond's face, but now wasn't the time to be worrying about petty things like nicknames.

 _But it's not petty._

"What do you think I mean by that Nozomi? I confessed to my father I was a homosexual, so he sent me to some school far, far away from the girl I was in love with. Of course, I _had_ to make sure she didn't follow me, so I wrote her a letter about how much I hate her." Eli remembered the moment, a defeated tone in her voice.

 _"_ _I can't even see Nozomi one last time?"_

 _"_ _Of course not. I can't have her infect you anymore then she has!"_

 _"_ _Don't speak about it like it's some kind of cancer!"_

The silence was heavy, and it hovered over the area and around the area, it was everywhere. The cool night breeze caused Eli to inhale sharply, her hair blowing wildly.

Nozomi still hadn't moved from her spot, her forehead still leaning against Eli's chest as the Rose Red rep heard the Lily one sigh.

"This is one hell of a mess isn't it?" Nozomi said. Eli could have felt hurt that Nozomi didn't mention the fact that Eli had just sort of confessed to her, but she wasn't. Nozomi was probably pretty overwhelmed and it would take time to think through.

"Rin right?"

"...What?"

"Rin showed you that picture." Nozomi nodded.

"Yes she did."

"That bitch is going to get her just desserts."

 **And that chapter was rather heavy so I'm not going to scream like I do after every single chapter about something stupid.**

 **So everything is out in the open for Nozomi and Eli, and now get ready for a ganging up time on Rin. The next POV will be Honoka or Rin, and then the POV after that will be Umi I think. Then the POV after that will be Eli again, and then the POV after that will be Rin.**

 **And that's when Christmas will be upon us.**

 **Everything happens on Christmas.**

 **Please make sure to get this story out! I feel people may not look into this story because the Romance doesn't really hit you in the face, especially with the KotoEli.**

 **Thank you to people who reviewed. Including** ** _rhyer, Good ol' Camay, JayxNitro, Jun Sakamato, and MaryLoves._** **The reviews you write really, really help the inspiration so thanks a ton!**

 **Anyways, since you guys smashed the goal of making 30 reviews, there will be a double update today! But, here's the amazing thing, if we can hit 40 followers then it'll be a triple update!** ** _Holy shit a triple update!_** **That's right, a triple update. Isn't that crazy?**

 **And sorry to the people who liked KotoEli because it will be ending soon.**

 **:( for people who liked it but :) for KotoUmi and NozoEli.**


	10. Chapter 10

_Why am I doing this?_ Honoka wondered as she crept into Umi's room. Rin had chosen to go into Kotori's room while Hanayo was hiding in the trees where the six girls were currently having an epic cat-fight. Those were Rin's words, not Honoka's.

Hanayo was acting as the lookout bird, and Honoka half wished she had gotten her position, but was secretly happy that she could go ninja agent mode. The Tulips creator wished she brought a magnifying glass, but a crappy little flashlight was the next best thing she had.

Thankfully all of the Roses were in their dorm so Honoka had broke into Umi's room rather easily. Rin had given Honoka the ring of keys, since everyone knew for fact that Umi would lock her door, but Kotori wasn't as bright.

Rin seemed to have a key for every room, including a dorm key that could unlock every single room in a dormitory, so things were going rather smoothly.

Honoka realized there was no point of having the flashlight as she flicked on the lights in defeat.

 _Wait...What did Rin tell me to do again?_ Honoka cursed her brain as her foot tapped against the floor, almost against her will. _Ah right. Check in the desk and underneath places. Umi is smart so she probably hides most of her belongings._

Honoka smiled, thankful that she had remembered and began looking for nooks and crannies around the room. Underneath the bed, desk, a few corners deep into the closet. Honoka hadn't found anything yet, but she wasn't stopping anytime soon.

"I should have known, under the pillow." Honoka said, grabbing a picture that was tucked underneath the bundle of pillows. She picked it up, examining it closely. Two little girls were in the picture, and Honoka immediately identified them as Kotori and Umi.

Kotori was holding Umi's hand, a wide grin on her face, while Umi was averting her gaze. They were standing in front of an old ice-cream parlor, and Honoka was surprised when she recognized it immediately.

"I used to go there as a kid. Is it possible that Umi and Kotori lived in the same area as me?" Honoka wondered. She opened up the picture frame, the picture slipping out and floating onto the floor.

Honoka picked it up and flipped it around, reading the date on the back, realizing that it was the same time while Honoka lived there.

"Wait...Umi and Kotori...THEY WENT TO MY SCHOOL!" Honoka had no idea how she could have forgotten about something as crucial as that. She knew her memory was bad, but how could she forget as something as crucial as that?

Whatever, it was in the past now.

"Whose in there?!" A knock on the door scared Honoka as she realized she had screamed out.

"No way is that Umi? Dammit Hanayo." Honoka didn't swear often, but she was deadly afraid, and she peered down at her phone to realize that Hanayo had, in fact, messaged her.

Honoka quickly looked around the room. There was a window, but Umi's room was so high up and Honoka would surely break a few bones if she hopped.

But once she heard the door start to unlock, all logic went to the pits.

Honoka fumbled with the window, but quickly opened it up in a mad dash. With a running start, she leaped through the small gap just as she heard the door open.

Honoka screamed loudly, waiting for her doom, when she felt herself fall into what felt like netting, which thankfully caught the majority of her fall. She still hit the ground though.

"Ouch..." Honoka muttered, wincing in pain as she looked up to the people who had the net. "Rin, Hanayo, how did you guys know that would happen?" Honoka asked as Rin and Hanayo stood on either side of the net, dropping it to the floor now that Honoka wasn't dead.

"Duh, cause we're not stupid. We heard you yell from a distance away, and thankfully we were near the gym and grabbed a net really quickly, then we darted back over. Just in the nick of time it seemed." Rin said, scratching her head as Hanayo nodded along with her.

"Now come on guys, we better head back to the dorm. Umi's probably going to be running out here any second." Hanayo said quickly, and Honoka nodded along with her, fear coursing through her body at Umi's voice.

The trio quickly packed up the net, Rin rushing it back while Hanayo and Honoka headed back to the dorm. After a few minutes they were all in Rin's room, Honoka writing the things she had learned on a piece of paper and adding it to Umi's side of the board.

"No way! You went to school with them and you _forgot?"_ Rin asked incredulously, Hanayo laughing in the background as Honoka scowled.

"Yeah yeah whatever. Make fun of me all you want, I'm so sorry." Honoka said sarcastically, taking a seat next to Hanayo while Rin laid on her bed.

"So I guess we got some more information on Kotori and Umi, but not enough. We still don't know why they fell out." Hanayo reminded the two girls, causing Rin to groan.

"Yeah, there wasn't any important shit in Kotori's room. All we know about them at this point was they were childhood BFF'S before transferring to Otonokizaka where they had a fall out during their time here." Rin summarized. Honoka sighed, leaning her head against Hanayo's shoulder.

"So now what do we do?" Honoka asked, more Rin then Hanayo since the ginger haired girl seemed to be orchestrating all of their plans.

Rin thought for a few moments, humming as she did.

"Christmas is coming." Rin muttered under her breath, but Hanayo was able to pick it up.

"What do you mean by this?" Hanayo asked.

"Christmas is coming guys, and that's when the plan will go into full execution." Rin said, leaping off of her bed. "Christmas is coming!" Rin cheered excitedly, jumping up and down as Honoka and Hanayo exchanged looks at the girls odd actions.

"You're turning into me." Honoka laughed, causing Rin to roll her eyes.

"Okay losers, listen to this. The six demon bitches are going to be on my case forever and it's going to be hell to deal with, but we can't let them corner me. If we do, the plan is screwed and everything goes to the pits. While I set everything up, I need you guys to constantly track their movements so we always know where they are. Yes, it's really creepy, but I can't run into them." Rin plotted, quickly grabbing a notepad off of her desk and scribbling words along the paper.

"What's going on her exactly?" Hanayo asked. Rin grinned widely.

"Oh I don't know, haven't you ever heard of Secret Santa?"

 _Fushigi da ne ima no kimochi_

 _Sora kara futte kita mitai_

 _Tokubetsu na kisetsu no iro ga tokimeki o miseru yo_

Honoka shuddered at the glares she was getting from the six different girls.

Everything was very weird. Umi hung out with Maki while Nozomi hung out with Nico, and Eli and Kotori were with each other. Friendships were clearly broken after Rin's puppetry with the girls, but Honoka didn't realize that the results would be _this_ bad.

But Honoka was to ignorant for her own good.

She wasn't sure why the girls were mad at _her_ though. It wasn't like it was her fault. Actually, it wasn't even really Rin's fault either. All of their relationships were messed up because _they_ screwed them up.

That didn't mean, though, that Honoka didn't feel awful. She felt so bad for breaking up the friendships that had been made. Hanayo felt worse, just because that was one of her characteristics, even though she practically had done nothing wrong.

Rin didn't seem to feel bad though.

The evidence was shown by the posters on the wall. They were centered pictures of Rin in a Santa Claus costume holding a big bag, presents spilling out onto the floor. She was wearing a wide grin, and there was a Christmas tree and different children running around behind her. It was clearly photo-shopped but Honoka had to give the ginger haired girl credit, she wasn't half bad at it.

Rin had talked to the principal and informed her that the Tulips would be running the Christmas celebration this year, since usually the students all celebrated Christmas together instead of going at home. Sure the Tulips representative thought it was extremely weird, but Honoka considered it normal. Of course it would be normal, it was tradition.

On the poster, sprawled across the bottom, were the words: 'SECRET SANTA SURPRISE THIS CHRISTMAS HOSTED BY NONE OTHER THEN THE TULIPS! THE PERSON YOU WILL BE 'SANTA' FOR WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON DECEMBER THE FIRST, LEAVING YOU TWENTY FIVE DAYS TO PICK THEM UP A PRESENT!"

Rin's plan hadn't made much sense to Honoka at first. She originally assumed that Rin would be cheating and making sure that Nozomi would give a present to Eli and Eli would be giving a present to Nozomi, so on and so forth. But that was to predictable for Rin's taste apparently.

Though Honoka did have to admit, the posters were a little creepy. Mostly because they were plastered everywhere that everyone looked.

Rin had disappeared to fulfill her duty. She would only show up to go to class and would immediately zip out to somewhere unknown without anybody knowing. Honoka wasn't too sure if she was even on campus anymore, and if she wasn't, how she got permission to leave. Maybe Principal Minami liked her?

Honoka didn't really know as she walked down the packed halls. The last block of school had just ended and swim practice was canceled due to some reason unbeknownst to Honoka, so now she had a free day to herself. Track was over for Christmas break but would be starting up again after wards.

Hanayo was gone for the day for some dance recital and Honoka was feeling very lonely. There was nobody to hang out with so she was stuck to her lonesome.

She soon ended up in her dorm room, left to her own thoughts as she sunk into the mattress of her bed.

She was very confused why Eli and Nozomi still hated each other. Hanayo had told her they had shared _some sort of_ moment out in the woods, but had ultimately been brushed over in spite of the situation.

Things between Kotori and Umi were _so_ awkward. You could just feel the air change when both of them entered the same room, which Honoka noticed was not often.

Honoka felt her thoughts wander to the blue haired girl as she opened her window, looking out and taking a deep breath at the winter air. Snow covered all of the earlier greenery and covered it in a white sheet that reflected a white Christmas. Little snowflakes fell from the sky, and Honoka reached her hand out in an attempt to grab one, but wasn't having much luck.

The cool air prickled her skin and nipped at her ears that were still, unfortunately, red from the cold. Honoka's ears were always sensitive, and she didn't really know why.

"Hey...is that Umi?" Honoka squinted her eyes, trying to see through the white crystals to get a good view of, what looked like, a blue haired girl. Her assumptions were correct as she saw the girl trudging through the snow alone, a toque on her head and her cheeks red from the frostiness of winter.

Honoka immediately darted out of her room, forgetting to shut the window as she sprinted down the stairs, making sure not to ram into anybody as she exited the Tulips dormitory.

She frantically looked around, trying to catch a view of blue hair, and it was just her luck that she couldn't see Umi.

"There you are!" Honoka yelled, madly dashing towards the unsuspecting blue haired girl who was walking along the soft snow alone.

"Ah!" Umi yelled when Honoka appeared next to her, taking a step back as Honoka smiled widely.

"You're Umi right? My name's Honoka, hopefully you already know that, yeah? I saw you walking out here alone so I thought I'd join you." Honoka smiled, Umi still in shock as she looked at the brunette like she had just walked out of an asylum.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-"

"You sure stutter a lot." Honoka commented absentmindedly as Umi continued to stumble over her words, trying to properly formulate a sentence.

"W-What do you want?" Umi wondered, her voice empty of tone and emotion as Honoka shrugged, still smiling at the Rose girl.

"Nothing really, just company. All my friends left me alone here, so I sort of need a friend. And you look like you need one to, so I thought it would be fun!" Honoka chirped, her hand tapping against her thigh as she fidgeted around in the snowy floor. Umi seemed to have gotten her composure and her frightened face turned to one of indifference and stoicism.

"I don't really want any company, thanks." Umi spoke, still empty in tone as she continued her walk across the snow, clearly having no destination in mind.

"Well that sure changed quickly," Honoka mumbled under her breath. Shaking her head, she jogged towards the girl, keeping pace with her. "You're not to happy with me, I'm assuming." Honoka spoke bluntly, clearly not on purpose, causing Umi to avert her eyes.

"..." Umi stayed silent, her steps slowing down as she realized she was losing Honoka any time soon. Honoka stayed silent as well, skipping next to the blue haired girl, humming softly.

"I'm sorry for the situation your in, but I think it's better this way." Honoka admitted, gaining a glare from Umi.

"How so?" Umi finally gained some tone, and Honoka immediately recognized it as resentment. _Ha-ha, I guess we're making some progress._

"Well just think about it, it's better to find out now then finding out a year later. Then your friendship with Eli would totally be destroyed." Honoka was still chirping, which was starting to get on Umi's nerves, but Honoka didn't mind.

"Our friendship is destroyed if you hadn't noticed." Umi's voice was still calm and collected, but an irritated tone was present and Honoka held back the urge to laugh. Actually, she ended up laughing anyways. "W-What's so funny?" Umi asked, with a mixture of frustration and embarrassment.

"The six of you, your all very funny people. Very funny and very fickle, I think that's the right word...fickle." Honoka repeated the word a few times until it became unfamiliar to her tongue and decided to drop it. "You're all very good friends too."

"Us? Friends? Have you seen us?" Umi asked incredulously, her formality slipping away for a split second.

"Well of course. You always find _some_ reason to talk to each other even though you supposedly hate each other. And Eli had tried to apologize multiple times, even though I can understand why you don't want to forgive her, your just pushing away the inevitable. It's all very confusing, really. You're all making the situation far more difficult then it should be. Maybe it's just a hormonal thing." Honoka wondered thoughtfully, lifting a hand to her chin.

Silence ensued the statement as Honoka watched Umi with curious eyes. The girl clearly was thinking about something, and the brunette decided just to leave the blue haired girl to her thoughts.

"Honoka." After a few minutes of nothing but Honoka's tapping and the sound of the duo's feet pressing into the snow, Umi's voice had made itself known.

"Yep?" Honoka replied, dropping her skipping and deciding just to walk instead.

"Have you ever had something right in front you, that you know is there, but you let it go because you want a better life for that person?" Honoka noticed Umi's casual transition from a thing to a person, but ignored it.

"...That's a good question Umi." Honoka admitted. "I don't think I've ever been put in that situation specifically. But in that situation...I would grab the person right in front of me." Honoka said, causing Umi's eyes to widen.

"But wouldn't that ruin their life?"

"Well, depends on the situation. I mean, if was a matter of life or death I would definitely let them go. But, if they are right in front of you, wouldn't they want it anyways? I mean, it would be pointless to let them go if they are willing to already risk their situation for you anyways. Or, maybe your just thinking about it wrong completely. Like, do you really think it would be bad for them? Maybe you just automatically assume that it would be bad for them since it's already bad for you." This comment caused Umi to stop walking, but Honoka continued anyways. "There's so many factors in a situation. Really, anything can happen."

Silence.

"Shameful." Honoka heard Umi mutter, before the girl suddenly took off, leaving Honoka in her dust.

"Hey! What the what?!"

 _Hajimete deatta toki kara_

 _Yokan ni sawagu kokoro no melody_

 _Tomerarenai tomaranai naze_

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Oh who am I kidding, the only males here are the teachers and they aren't even here." Rin announced through the mic while Honoka sat excitedly in her seat next to Hanayo. It was December first, and now everyone would one by one come go into Principal Minami's office to randomly get the person they were going to be Secret Santa for.

Rin would be in there handing out the papers to everybody. Then the plan would begin.

All the Tulips would not be participating in the Secret Santa, much to the disappointment of Honoka, but it would still look like they were to the Roses and Lilies. They would still be called into the room, they just wouldn't be given someone to be Secret Santa for.

That left thirty four people truly competing in the competition. Everyone would be getting presents, but the six _special_ girls would not be getting presents. Well, they would be, but not from a Secret Santa. But they'd still think they were getting presents from a Secret Santa.

It really confused Honoka. But Rin seemed to know what was going on.

"So, I will start calling names and if you could come in silently that would be much appreciated. Now, don't tell anybody who your being Secret Santa for or you are officially a loser. Now let's begin!"

 **SECRET SANTA WILL RUIN LIVES. JUST KIDDING QUITE THE CONTRARY ACUTALLY.**

 **Now, what could Rin possibly have planned. *Shrug, you'll see my friend, you will see.**

 **A little bit of Umi and Honoka interaction because we haven't seen to much of good old Umi, and a little insight on her feelings and such.**

 **This was more of a filler chapter, as you could properly tell, leading up to the Secret Santa on Christmas day! Next chapter will be a bit of a filler as well, but the chapter after that shit will hit the fan. So be excited!**

 **Anyways, about the length of this book, or novel, or fanfiction, or whatever the heck you call it. I am not sure if it will end with the romance, A.K.A it will be ending soon then, or if I will continue till the end of Rin's year involving the school and shit and more romance. I'm not sure, we'll see.**

 **Sorry for the slow burn to my more eager readers, but I love slow burn personally. I feel like some people rush romance so they can get straight to the lovey dovey stuff, which I'm not against don't get me wrong, but I just prefer build up man. It makes it so much more amazing :o) orz**

 **Anyways, till next time! And we're close to our 40 follower goal for triple update yeaaah! And I will be replying to reviews next chapter just so you know.**


	11. Chapter 11

Nico sighed in frustration as she looked around in the antique shop, still wondering about what exactly she would buy.

The pig tailed personally liked the idea of Secret Santa, even though she knew a certain redhead wouldn't be feeling the same way. Not like she mattered what that blubbering fool thought anyways.

But unfortunately she had picked a Rose Red, and since they never really _talked_ , she would never know what to get the girl. Hopefully she liked antiques and chocolate because that was what she was getting.

Walking out into the frosty air triggered a sharp intake from Nico. It was getting cold fast, and Nico had to admit, she loved it. Sure, she would have preferred it be a little warmer, but the snow was so beautiful and amazing and fun to play with and...

Well come on! It's snow!

The streets of the city were packed. Principal Minami had let the school go on a field trip so they could go pick up their presents, which was nice. Otonokizaka was a great place, but it was nice to get out once in a while.

Nico wasn't to sure what Rin had in mind with the Secret Santa, but she knew the girl was up to no good. She was tearing open old winds and making new ones, in Nico's eyes, and clearly the others felt the same way.

And now everything had changed.

Nozomi didn't even acknowledge Kotori's presence anymore, she was acting as if Kotori had up and died and had been erased from existence. And it was definitely affecting the poor girl.

Nico had heard the girl sobbing sometimes in her room. The raven haired girl didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she felt so bad for her friend, and usually resided to leaning against Kotori's door, listening to her cries of desperation. If Nozomi wasn't there, Nico would definitely run into help.

But Nico did admit, Kotori definitely wasn't the right person in the situation. She wasn't the only wrong one, though, everybody was at wrong. Unfortunately they all thought they were _right_.

Nozomi was falling apart as well. After the emotional toll of realizing the girl who was in love with her, which wasn't really a surprise to Nico after Nozomi informed her of their conversation, was now dating her best friend must have been overwhelming. Especially since Eli had kicked Nozomi to the curb and then spat at her when she was down.

Now, as stated previously, this didn't make Nozomi any more right. She had done some pretty awful things to Eli as well, as Nico's memory served her right, as soon as she heard Eli was in the same school as her.

Eli had apologized to Nozomi every single day, bringing presents and gifts every single time. Nozomi refused every single day, but not without adding her own little stab at Eli's armor which was falling apart at the seams.

You could tell that after months Eli finally had enough and gave up.

Kotori had told her of all of this, since Nico had been there until a year later, and it intrigued Nico and confused her. And frustrated her and made her head hurt.

"Jesus Christ why is all this so confusing?" Nico wondered, her mind wandering as her footsteps against the street were the only things that made her recognized as a fellow human being.

"Ouch, watch it!" This scene was all to familiar as Nico bumped into somebody walking along the streets in front of her. After colliding with the person's back, the person turned around to face Nico.

"Um, me? Maybe _you_ should watch it!" Maki spat, instantly recognizing Nico's voice among the crowd of people. She twirled her hair with disinterest causing Nico to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Nico brushed off, side stepping around the redhead. "You should start heading back to the bus, we're leaving soon."

"What do you think I was doing?" This comment from Maki was ignored as Nico picked up her pace to get as far away from Maki as she possibly could. Unfortunately they were heading the exact same way to get back to the bus, so Maki was always just a few feet behind her, and Nico always knew where she was even though their was a pool of people around her.

 _Stupid Maki!_ Nico thought, wishing the girl would just leave her thoughts alone. She found herself looking back to Maki, who was staring at her with an unknown look in her eyes. As soon as Maki had been caught, though, she immediately averted her eyes and scowled, a faint blush on her already red cheeks.

Nico scowled as well, and scowled again when she felt her own cheeks heat up. _Stupid, stupid Maki._

 _Dan Dan kokoro Dan Dan atsuku_

 _Yume ippai kanaete miseru_

 _Dan Dan susumu Dan Dan hajikeru_

 _Mirai o shikkari mite!_

"It's Christmas!" Nico cried as she darted out of her bed, changing into the school uniform as she quickly as she could.

After freshening up, she found Nozomi downstairs eating and immediately took a seat across from her. Kotori was never really around the Rose Red dorm, and usually sat in the back of classes, so it was hard to notice her presence. That didn't mean Nico forgot her. Not at all.

"Nozomi! Merry Christmas!" Nico wished happily, skipping and humming while Nozomi laughed halfheartedly. She seemed to be doing everything halfheartedly ever since _that unfortunate day._

"Merry Christmas Nico-chi, how are you?" Nozomi asked, picking away at the pancake that sat on her plate. Nico licked her lips at the pancake, and was surprised when Nozomi willingly pushed the plate towards the girl. "You can have mine, I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure?" Nico asked, trying to hide her worry while Nozomi just smiled.

"I'm fine, not very hungry." _Liar._ Nico thought, but on the outside she graciously accepted the treat and ate it merrily.

Lights hung around the Lily dorm and different decorations were placed neatly around the dormitory. Nico loved it, she really did. It was festive and happy and amazing, and Nico loved it. Christmas was never really a great holiday until she had come to Otonokizaka. Well, it had been an _amazing_ holiday, but it just was never very cheery and festive.

But as long as her mom was there, Christmas was always great.

"Come on Nico-chi, the Christmas ceremony and Secret Santa is starting soon!" Nozomi said rising from her seat, and Nico was filled with relief when she heard a tone of excitement in Nozomi's voice. So she was excited for Christmas too.

Nico followed eagerly, the pancake all but leaving her mind as she jogged to catch up with Nozomi who was already out the door.

"Welcome one and all, to the Secret Santa Christmas Celebration! Doesn't that just have such a great ring to it?" Rin announced, the gymnasium transformed into a Christmas wonderland. Different ornaments and lights adorned the walls and Rin was dressed in a Santa Claus suit, like the one in the poster.

There was also a big tree in the corner of the room with different presents that everybody had placed down. Nico looked at them eagerly, itching to open her present, hoping it was something good.

"Anyways, everybody should probably have prayed a few weeks ago that they would receive a good present, because unfortunately with events like this some people are cheap. So, the Tulips have supplied complimentary baked goods and cakes so that nobody will feel left out." The room erupted into cheers at the sounds of Christmas food. "There will also be a turkey dinner supplied by the amazing chefs here at Otonokizaka! Give them a round of applause!" Nico was surprised that even the Roses were cheering-of course, she was already-but it was Christmas, everybody was happy on Christmas.

...Right?

"Now, since everybody is here, we can head straight on to the opening of the presents! Please go to the tree and grab your presents, and don't be too spastic about it. Honoka I'm talking to you." After Rin was finished there was a mad dash to the Christmas tree. Nico was one of those mad dashers as she looked for her present excitedly, finally finding it wrapped neatly underneath the tree. It had a big, beautiful bow, and clearly stood out among the others.

 _Wow, this person clearly had some stuff to spend. Or maybe there just really nice._ Whatever the reason was, Nico didn't really care as she reached down to grab her present. With an excited gleam in her eyes she looked around frantically for Nozomi's as well, as obviously the girl was able to hold back a little bit on her Christmas cheer, as Nico would phrase it.

"Aha!" Nico cheered, reaching over to grab Nozomi's present. It also stood out, being neatly wrapped with another large bow on it in a different color. _Maybe our Secret Santa's worked together or something._

"Nozomi I have your present!" Nico sang, handing the Lily White representative her present.

"Ah, thank you Nico-chi. Let's go open them outside." Nozomi decided, in which Nico hummed in agreement to, and the duo walked outside of the packed gymnasium.

At this time it was around noon, and nobody was outside, leaving Nico and Nozomi to their lonesome. But they didn't mind, it was just what they wanted really.

"Okay, let's open them at the same time Nozomi!" Nico chattered anxiously, holding back every urge to tear a part her present as Nozomi laughed.

"Okay Nico-chi, I just have to go the washroom really quick, so wait until I get back~." Nozomi teased, walking away.

"Nozomi!" Nico called after the girl, who was really just kidding, causing Nico to scowl. "Can we please just open these presents?"

"My, my Nico-chi, where is all of your Christmas cheer?" Nozomi continued.

"Nozomi!" After a few moments of arguing Nico was finally able to open her present, revealing a simple pink box.

"Oh, mystery. This is clearly expertly made." Nico said, inducing another laugh from Nozomi, but Nico ignored it and opened up the box.

"...Eh?"

 _To Yazawa Nico,_

 _To Toujou Nozomi,_

 _To Minami Kotori,_

 _To Ayase Eli,_

 _To Nishikino Maki,_

 _To Sonoda Umi,_

 _We want to thank you for you services in aiding the school as you have. We feel that you have been a significant part of the greatness that is Otonokizaka Academy, and we all decided that we owe it to you for the majority of the things we have._

 _So, in association with the Tulips (don't get us wrong, we didn't want to associate with them) we planned the Secret Santa so that we could really come up with a surprise for you!_

 _So please follow this map to the old location of Otonokizaka Academy. It's easy to find, since there is a pathway from here-that being present day Otonokizaka-near the Rose Red dorm. It'll be a short walk through the woods, and you'll find it. Just know that it's nothing in comparison to Otonokizaka now, so don't have high expectations._

 _We planned something in there we hope you enjoy. With Principal Minami's permission, of course. We very much hope you will enjoy it, and please, also enjoy your Christmas break._

 _From,_

 _Rose Red_

 _From,_

 _Lily White_

"I'm one evil son of a bitch aren't I?"

 **CHRISTMAS IS HERE AND BITCHES WILL BE CRYING. SOME WISH THEY'LL BE DYING. SOME WILL PROBABLY START LYIIIIIINGGGGG!**

 **I hope you liked that little song right there. Took a lot of effort.**

 **Anyways, really sorry for the extremely short chapter. It's just buildup for the next chapter, just so you know.**

 **Thanks for the reviews from:** ** _Jun Sakamoto, JayxNitro, Good ol' Camay who should have read the warning lol, Nathy11, MaryLoves, and new comer Yaeko-Rin!_** **Ever single review means a lot so much love! Anyways, some questions to be answerd.**

 **Jay: NozoKoto did break their friendship, it'll be touched on more next chapter but i'm pretty sure I went over it last chapter.**

 **Mary: No, they did not have sex lol. I just didn't answer you the first time so see if you would ask again :P**

 **Next chapter POV will be mixed through everybody, since that's just the way it is, and it'll either be very long or seperated into multiple chapters. Probably the latter, but we'll see.**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hey guys! It's Shawty it Eli here! And lemme warn you, this is going to be the longest chapter like ever. Sorry for the long chapter, I could have divided it, but I just couldn't find the right time in between everything. Now, since this is such a long chapter, I am pretty far behind in my writing. So for this little treat, there may not be an update for a bit. Sorry for the inconvenience.**_

 _ **I also wanted to take a moment to thank anybody who has ever given this story a read. I mean, when we first started, it was just me, an idea I didn't really know where to go with, and Jun Sakamato. Lol. And Nishikino Maki, my first two reviewers.**_

 _ **Of course there are the people who stayed behind the scenes and just followed and that is very appreciated as well. I just wanted to use a small chunk of this to reflect and truly thank you all for giving this story a read. Now I'm certainly not saying this is the most popular story ever, because it's far from it, and I'm also not the best writer in the world. And I will never be, unfortunately that's the way it is.**_

 _ **But because of you guys I have finally taken ownership of my writing and have posted something! So here we are, with a bunch of new people checking it out, and I really hope with this chapter I could impress you all and get you into the story :D**_

 _ **Anyways, enough of the fucking sappy shitty ass stuff. Let's get to the goddamn book!**_

 _ **Oh and I will be replying to reviews next chappie!**_

Eli walked down the path alone. She was shocked that her Roses had gone out of their way to do something for her, and she couldn't help but feel touched. Her Roses really were good people.

Eli hadn't seen Kotori all day, and she wasn't sure why. She had tried to reach out to the girl, in some means, and almost thought she saw her through the crowd of people at the Christmas ceremony, but it had been the wrong person unfortunately.

She was also surprised her Roses still _liked_ her, since they hadn't been so happy with her dating Kotori. But with this turn of events, things seemed to be looking up for Ayase Eli.

Sort of.

"So this is old Otonokizaka, huh? Doesn't look that bad." Eli admitted, looking at the sky blue building. It was pretty big, nothing in comparison to Otonokizaka, but in comparison to regular schools it was slightly bigger.

She approached the double doors, expecting a bunch of Roses to pop out, but instead she was met with something she never expected.

"KEEP THE DOOR OPEN!"

"DON'T CLOSE THE DOOR!"

"THE DOOOOOOR!" The different yells escalated through the room, and all Eli could do was stare dumbly as the door behind her shut firmly.

This was met by multiple groans.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Nico groaned, taking a seat against the wall next to Nozomi who was, apparently, fast asleep. Umi was pacing around the room and Maki was sitting on a bench with a annoyed look in her eyes. Kotori was sitting on the left staircase, looking off into the distance, clearly not even aware of Eli's presence.

"What's going on here?" Eli asked incredulously. Nico groaned again, rolling her eyes disdainfully.

"What do you think genius? We were tricked by some douche-bag and now we're stuck in here. The doors locked on the outside, by the way, if you hadn't noticed." Nico explained with a irritation clear in her voice.

"What?!" Eli yelped, shock and surprise coursing through her body as her heart dropped. This could be really bad. What if somebody had snuck in and were trying to kidnap them or something? What if they were seriously in danger.

"Now quit standing there and join the group, cause we're all going to be here for a while." Nico groaned, leaning her head Nozomi's shoulder, trying to get her own rest, leaving Eli to herself.

Eli automatically felt herself walk towards Kotori, but in reality she was feeling drawn to Nozomi. But she knew there was no way Nico would let her even speak to the violet haired girl.

"Hey Kotori, I haven't seen you all day." Eli greeted, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek before taking a seat next to her.

"Oh Eli, hey." Kotori smiled faintly, looking back at the ground after a few seconds.

"What's the problem?" Eli asked immediately. Kotori sighed.

"You can just feel the heaviness in the room. We don't know how long we're going to be stuck in here for, and I don't think we're going to last to long without something happening, especially with Nico here." Kotori smiled wistfully for a split second, as if recalling a memory, before a dead look reappeared on her face.

Eli ran a hand through her hair, leaning back against the staircase, trying to get comfortable. This really wasn't the way she wanted to spend her Christmas, but it seemed like this was what was happening.

Eli felt Kotori lean her head against her chest, and was surprised when she actually managed to get comfortable on stairs. Lifting Kotori's head for a moment, Eli discarded her thick coat and used it instead as a pillow, leaning her head back against one of the stairs while Kotori leaned her head back on Eli's stomach.

"Merry Christmas everybody." Nico's voice was the last thing Eli heard before she fell asleep.

 _I know happy holiday, happy holiday_

 _Itsumo no basho ni te atsumare_

 _I say happy holiday, happy holiday_

 _Hanashite kyou wa nan demo Happy time_

Maki rubbed at her eyes, yawning after being awoken by shouts or something along the line of a shout. The redhead sat up from her spot on the bench, her eyes widening from the face on the television that was hung above the door.

Apparently it had originally been for things such as school updates and such, but with such bad placement nobody ever noticed it. But it sure was being noticed now.

"Hello losers, and Merry Christmas!" Rin cheered, ringing a bell that was in her right hand. She was dressed in her Santa uniform, and the live-stream was obviously being filmed from her dorm room. The camera shook a few times. "Honoka, keep still! Anyways, ho-ho-ho and other stupid shit!" This earned another ring of the bells.

"What the hell is happening here?" Nico cried, eliciting a laugh from Rin.

"Isn't it obvious? I've trapped you all in a room and now you are stuck. All the door in the school are locked so you're stuck in the main lobby. Don't worry, I'm not planning on starving you, so I put crackers and stuff in a bin next to the door. It looks shaggy on the outside, I know, but I did that on purpose so you wouldn't find it. There's a bunch of stuff in there like energy bars, water bottles, juice boxes for frisky ones, and more. There's also a food bag thing filled with ice packs, and I put some turkey in there. It's probably cold by this point in time, but I thought you guys deserved some sort of a Christmas dinner, and trust me it's really good turkey." Rin explained.

"Yeah, it is!" That was Honoka.

"You can't trap us here! That's not even legal!" Eli spoke this time, driven by rage and utter hatred. Rin just laughed again, enraging the Rose Red representative further. "Shut the hell up and let us go!"

"Ha-ha, Ayase Eli you make me laugh." Rin chuckled, wiping at the tears coming at her eyes before she focused back on the camera. "I'm trapping you here, so don't worry yourself any more then you probably already have. Principal Minami and everybody else just assumed that you guys are at one of Maki's piano recitals and Nico's idol practices. These people are all so easy to fool! But trust me, this took a shit ton of effort." Rin admitted.

Maki stood up from the bench, walking over to the screen, clearly having enough of everybody's idiocy. Umi was too, but that girl wasn't voicing her thoughts any time soon. And Nozomi was staying silent.

"How long are you keeping us here?" Maki asked, her tone clear and calm.

"Ah, Maki, I feel like we haven't spoken enough. It's nice to see a voice of reason among this storm. Anyways, I'm not planning on keeping you here too long. But in case you're here for a bit, there's sleeping bags and pillows in the bin as well. Make yourselves comfortable." Maki tapped her foot against the floor impatiently, confused by the Tulips rep's motives.

"Why are you doing this?" She wondered. "I mean, we're just six girls at some school. Picking on us, or whatever the hell you're doing with us, isn't helping your life. So why mess with ours?" Rin looked like she was in thought for a few moments before her cynical confident face returned.

"Nozomi and Eli, you two are the representatives, so you'll know what I'm talking about." Rin began, her eyes darting over to the violet haired girl who seemed to be mentally absent before she focused back on the redhead staring her down. "One of the rules in the rule book read that when a representative is elected, they are given the choice to transfer to another division. If they do transfer out, all of the members of their divisions are presented the choice to transfer as well. After all of them take place, the re-election takes place immediately." Rin finished. Maki's eyes widened, but before she could say anything Umi cut in.

"Smart. So you're keeping us in here until we transfer to your division, the Tulips?" Umi asked, her eyes sharp and keen while her mind was rolling, trying to break down what Rin was saying through her words and body language. It was definitely something to do with the Tulips, but Umi assumed there was a hidden motive.

"Smart as ever, Sonoda Umi." Rin complimented, nodding in acknowledgment to Umi who kept her cool gaze. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing." Nozomi's foot making impact with the floor loudly startled the five girls, except for Rin. She had expected it.

"There's no way I would do that, for your information. And you can't keep us trapped here forever." Nozomi spoke in a calmer tone, sharply contrasting her loud stomp against the floor.

"But you six are only human, and shit's going to go down eventually." Rin reminded, ringing the bell merrily. " _I wish you a Merry Christmas. I wish you a Merry Christmas. Please do not kill each other. Merry fucking Christmas!"_ With that, the screen shut off. Before turning on again a second later. "Oh, and if you decide that you do want to transfer to the Tulips, just yell. I got cameras in there and shit so we'll be watching you. God damn that's creepy." Rin mumbled the last part to herself before the live-stream really ended.

The six girls stayed silent, all shocked as they exchanged looks of surprise and annoyance. Eli sighed shakily, running a hand through her hair before taking a seat back on the stairs.

"We're going to be stuck here for a while guys, and it's getting pretty late, let's just go to sleep." Eli suggested, sitting next to Kotori who had stayed in her position on the stairs. Nico glared at the blond.

"Um, I don't know about you guys, but I don't feel like rotting in here for days, so I'm going to find my way out. Stupid bitch took my phone." Nico muttered the last part under her breath. Maki instinctively checked her pockets, noticing her phone was missing as well.

"Darn." Maki groaned after knowing for sure that her electronic had been _stolen_ from her. Maki rose from her seat on the bench, walking up the flight of stairs adjacent to the stairs Eli and Kotori were sleeping on.

"Maki, where are you going?" Umi asked, wanting to keep track of her friend. She didn't really care what happened to anybody else as long as Maki was safe.

...Well and Kotori of course. Umi couldn't stop that.

"I'm just going upstairs to look around, Umi. Unfortunately, Nico is right." Maki admitted, reaching the top of the stairs, earning a scowl from Nico.

"Unfortunately?" Nico growled, but the comment went unnoticed.

Umi jogged up the stairs, quick to catch up with her friend. "Okay, let's go." Maki shook her head.

"It's okay Umi, I got it." Maki said, twirling her hair disinterestedly. Umi studied Maki for a few seconds, the common hair twirl. This was a usual act from Maki, used to try to distract others from what she was really feeling by giving them the thought she was being nonchalant instead.

Umi grabbed Maki's hand in one swift movement, earning an embarrassed blush from Maki as she pulled the redhead down the left hall.

"Maki you seem to think I'm stupid when I'm really a genius." Umi said simply, the corners of her mouth rising.

"W-Whatever Umi." Maki grumbled, but let her friend direct her down the hall. Her eyes shot over to Nico for a split second, who was watching the whole scene with an angry look on her face.

 _Idiot._

Eli watched the exchange between Maki and Umi with a longing expression. She wished she could be up there with her friends, most likely walking alongside them, laughing at Maki's antics and congratulating Umi on her smarts, even though everyone already knew what Maki was thinking anyways.

Kotori was different though.

Eli could tell that her girlfriend wished she was in Maki's situation, being pulled along by a knight in shining armor. Okay, so maybe not that, but something along those lines.

"Well Nozomi and I are going to go down the right hall then." Nico announced, walking up the stairs with Nozomi close behind. "You guys watch this area to see if Rin decides to pay us a visit or something." Nico said, not giving Eli and Kotori a second glance and soon she was walking down the right hall, Nozomi next to her.

Nozomi stood next to Nico, holding back the temptation to look back at Eli. But right as they were about to leave the foyer, Nozomi twirled her head around, not surprised that Eli was looking right at her.

It made her heart stop. She hadn't felt like this in a long time, not since her and Eli were friends. Every time she would catch Eli staring it would make her heart flutter, and every single time Eli would avert her eyes, blushing.

But Eli didn't this time.

She was looking at Nozomi, a tired yet serious look in her face. Nozomi wasn't sure what to make of it, so she turned away and caught up with Nico who had gotten a few feet ahead of her.

"Nico-chi wait!" Nozomi called after her raven haired.

"You're so slow Nozomi." Nico said with a wave of her hand, stopping to wait for Nozomi. "You'd never make it in the real world." Nico laughed, grabbing her stomach to emphasize how funny she found herself.

"And Nico-chi would?"

"Nozomi!"

Eli watched as Nico and Nozomi disappeared down the hall. After she was sure they were gone, she yawned loudly, stretching out her hands before she rose from her spot on the stairs.

"I'm going to take a look in that bin Rin was talking about, are you going to try to get some sleep?" Eli asked, earning a halfhearted nod from Kotori was was clearly half asleep. Eli smiled at the brunette, leaving to grab a pillow for her.

The bin was pretty disturbing on the outside, but on the inside it looked better. She grabbed the cooler, seeing it had turkey in it as Rin had stated. There were some paper plates and plastic forks and spoons in a separate plastic bag, along with some energy bars and other imperishable foods. She grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler, and closed it afterwards, wanting to keep the things cold for as long as they'd last.

After opening the cap Eli took a long swig, wiping her mouth afterwards. This was inhumane, even for Rin's level. She was trapping them in an abandoned school for who knows how long.

But Eli knew that wasn't Rin. She knew Rin, at least, she knew Rin well. The girl was headstrong, and a little stubborn at times, but not cruel. And if she had to be cruel, their was always a motive behind it that would amount to something, it was never for no reason.

So what was the motive for Rin's sudden acts? Eli wasn't sure, Umi was smarter then her so she should be the one thinking about it, but their relationship had been destroyed. Mostly because of Rin.

No, it wasn't Rin's fault. It was Eli's fault. _It was all Eli's fault._

Maybe that was just what the world was like. Eli could seem like a great person, and maybe she thought she was great. She was responsible, maybe a little bit cold but never cruel, hard working, and would do anything for the people she loved. So then why did everything she did backfire? Why did it always go wrong?

Eli would be more then willing to switch to the Tulips if it meant that everybody would be free. Of course, she wasn't too sure what would happen to the school after that, so she could see why the other girls were hesitating.

Sighing, Eli closed the bin, but not without grabbing the pillows and the sleeping bags. She slipped the sleeping bags out of their cases and unrolled them, laying two next to each other then having a small space in between before she would lay down two more. She placed a pillow on each one, and smiled at her work. It would be a tad uncomfortable lying on the floor, but at least they wouldn't freeze.

The Rose Red's representative's eyes darted over to Kotori to see her sprawled across one of the stairs, sleeping soundly. She would surely wake up sore in the position she was in. Eli looked at her girlfriend with an amused smile.

 _Uwasa no chokoreeto (ooishi!)_

Walking over to Kotori, she knelt on the stair before the brunette, studying her face. Her mouth was slightly parted, and deep breaths could be heard every few seconds, the normal symptoms of sleep. Eli kissed Kotori softly on the forehead, before she picked up her girlfriend.

"Kotori sure is light." Eli commented, talking to herself to keep herself occupied as she walked back over to one of the sleeping bags, tucking Kotori into one of them and leaning her head against the pillow.

 _Narande mita yo (torokeru ne)_

All the windows were sealed from the outside with black pieces of paper so there was no way Eli could look out, the only light being the skylight from the higher up windows that hadn't been blocked.

But by the dimmed lighting Eli knew it was night time, and she wasn't sure how the time had passed so quickly, but it had. Time was supposed to pass while you were having fun. Not while you were in hell.

Eli took her spot next to Kotori, snuggling into her pillow, her eyes watching the sleeping body of her girlfriend. The light from the skylight was shining off of Kotori's cheek, the other being snug in the pillow. Her hair was down, released from her bun, and laid against the cold floor.

"Cute." Eli mumbled, reaching over to curl some hair behind Kotori's ear so it wasn't in her face. Content, Eli closed her eyes, the last thing she saw before falling asleep being Kotori's face.

 _Horo nigasa to koi to (issho)_

 _Dakara dakara amaku setsunaku_

"Umi, Rin was right, all the doors are locked." Maki said for the umpteenth time, getting frustrated with her best friends persistent as Umi continued her final search of many around the left wing of the school. All the doors were locked from the outside, besides the bathroom. But that was it, nothing more then some dark creepy hallways. No wonder Eli had stayed in the lobby.

"We can't give up Maki, there has to be something around here. Some means of escape." Umi persisted, flashing a light around the hall. The blue haired girl was always prepared, and had one of those cheap plastic lights in her pocket. Maki could have said she was surprised, but then she'd be lying.

The redhead rolled her eyes, inching closer to her friend. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but abandoned buildings did frighten her. Umi seemed to be fearless though.

So she attached herself to her blue haired friends arm, trying to act indifferent as she looked around the halls.

"You're not fooling me."

"I hate you."

 _Umi walked down the Otonokizaka halls alone. Eli was somewhere dealing with some Rose Red situation and had stubbornly resisted any help from the blue haired girl, so she was now stuck wandering the halls without any goal in mind._

 _"_ _Ah, Maki." Umi didn't call out to her friend once she recognized the red hair, for she didn't want to disturb anybody in the halls. So she walked at a respectable pace to reach her friend who was currently moving things around in her locker. "Hello Maki, how is your day going?" Umi asked, startling her friend._

 _"_ _Umi, I didn't see you." Maki said, twirling her hair, her locker becoming a thing of the past. Of course, Maki tried not to show it by randomly assorting things in her locker, but Umi wasn't dumb. "My day's going well, how about you?" Umi shrugged._

 _"_ _I'm quite alright. I completed the majority of my work in class so I have the rest of the day to do something to my liking. But then I saw you and thought maybe we could do something together?" Umi wondered, averting her eyes, waiting for Maki's answer._

 _"_ _Sure!" Maki chirped quickly, surprising Umi, and obviously surprising herself for her eyes widened and she blushed profusely. "...Well only because I have nothing better to do. I-It's not like I want to and-." Umi's hand over her mouth shut the girl up._

 _"_ _It's okay Maki, you don't have to be embarrassed. I like hanging out with you." Umi said, the corner of her lips turning upwards into a smile. Maki smiled at this. Umi didn't smile often, so when it happened Maki's mood always uplifted._

 _And then she'd try to hide it immediately afterwards._

 _"_ _W-Well where are you taking me then?!"_

 _"_ _Calm down Maki."_

 _"_ _Humph."_

Umi shook her head, focusing back on her investigation. Her mind couldn't sway, she needed to focus.

 _"_ _...Hey Kotori." Umi knocked on her friends door, standing outside awkwardly, fidgeting every few moments ._

 _The door opened after a few moments, revealing Kotori who was sniffling behind the door, her eyes red and puffy._

 _Umi felt her heart sink at her friends distraught state. She had just been dumped by her boyfriend. Well, they weren't really dating, since the girls were only in grade six and Kotori wasn't too sure what was happening. Umi had no clue either, but Ricky Nelson had eventually dumped Kotori after stating she didn't have good enough lunches for trading. Apparently that was an important factor for ten year old's._

 _"_ _Umi!" Kotori cried, grabbing onto her friend in a wild state, sobbing into the shocked blue haired girls shoulder. Umi expected this, and found herself regretting now mentally preparing herself further before knocking on the door._

 _"_ _I-It's going to be okay." Umi cooed awkwardly, patting Kotori's back every few seconds as if it would amount to anything. But Kotori seemed to be happy with it for she snuggled further into Umi's shoulder, but the girl was still crying._

 _Umi could tell the girl had been crying for an hour or two. Her foot was dragging against the floor, representing emotional detachment or possibly self distraction, and her cries and face contortions were obvious factors of sadness._

 _Sure, maybe Umi knew what was wrong with the girl, but that didn't mean she knew how to deal with it._

 _"_ _Umi will you stay here tonight?" Kotori asked, sniffling afterwards, a soft sob escaping her lips._

 _"_ _Of course."_

"Umi look!" Maki said, standing next to a desk at the end of one of the hallways. Umi snapped back into reality, her eyes shooting to where Maki was. The redhead was motioning to a flower pot, earning a raised eyebrow from the blue haired girl.

 _"_ _..._ Flowers?" Umi asked. Maki shook her head.

 _"_ Come here dummy and take a look." Maki explained, and Umi complied after a few moments of hesitation, standing next to the redhead girl.

After exchanging looks with her friend, Umi peered into the flower pot, seeing a golden key at the bottom of the pot. There was a note attached it it, reading words Umi couldn't see through dirt and the flowers.

 _"_ You dug to the bottom of this flower pot? How did you know?" Umi asked, grabbing the key, trying to hid her excitement.

 _"_ Well, I tried to think how you do. How could this plant still be alive if this school hadn't been checked on in years? Clearly Rin did this on purpose." Maki explained, earning a proud look from Umi.

"Amazing. I'm proud of you Maki." Umi admitted, patting her friend on the head, who averted her eyes and flushed lightly.

"I'm not some child okay." Maki responded indifferently, shaking her head so Umi's hand would slip off, earning a rare laugh from the blue haired girl.

Umi wiped the dirt off of the note, trying to read the writing. Some of it was illegible, due to the mixtures of water and dirt to create a layer of thick muck, but others could be read easily.

 _Ha-ha! So someone who isn't a dumb ass realized that, in fact, this plant couldn't possibly be alive. Good thinking, good thinking, I'm impressed. Tickle me pink eh?_

 _-Rin, the golden hero. Or more likely in your eyes':_

 _-Rin, the devil's child_

"What an interesting girl." Maki mumbled, her eyes looking over the key that Maki held in her hand. "Well what room do you think this opens up?" Maki asked. Umi shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Let's try every single one." Umi suggested. Maki nodded in agreement, reattaching herself back to Umi before they left the dead end, trying to force the key into every lock at every door.

"I wonder if Nico's having any luck." Maki wondered aloud. Umi raised an eyebrow in response.

"Nico is your top priority, I am assuming?"

"Shut-up! Don't talk like Kotori isn't...Uh." Maki stopped herself from going further when a hurt look appeared on Umi's face. "Sorry Umi, I didn't mean to..."

"It's alright Maki, it is not your fault." Umi cut her friend off, keeping her gaze on the next door they were going to try.

Maki looked at her friend, studying her features. She knew she was no genius in comparison to Umi, but she wasn't as dense as other people. Like Eli.

"...I love you Umi." Maki blurted out, her face a dark red as she kept her usual harsh eyes anywhere that wasn't Umi, mentally kicking herself for blurting out something so stupid.

Umi stopped walking, her face perplexed by the sudden display of emotion from her usual emotionally distant friend, or at least she acted like she was. She wondered on how exactly she should react, searching her brain for any information she had possibly picked up in a book or online.

And for the first time in a long time since Kotori knocked on her door to get ice cream, Umi stopped thinking.

She wrapped her hands around Maki, pulling the redhead into a hug, and began sobbing into the shorter girl's shoulder. Maki yelped lightly, startled by her friends actions, but immediately softened after she realized what was going on.

The blue haired girl sobbed for a few minutes into her friend's shoulder, the whole situation digesting one hundred percent. She had stopped herself from crying when she had originally found out that Eli was dating Kotori, but now she couldn't stop herself.

 _"_ _Hey Umi?" Kotori asked, poking her friend in the shoulder. It had been a long day at school and Umi was, admittedly, exhausted. The walk from school to home was a quick one, and tomorrow would be the last day of grade school anyways before Kotori and Umi transferred to Otonokizaka for their first year of high school._

 _"_ _...Hey Umi?" Kotori poked the blue haired girl again, finally attracting her attention._

 _"_ _Oh, apologies. Pardon me, what do you need Kotori?" Umi asked, brushing her long blue hair behind her ear as she focused on her friend. Kotori studied her friends face, and Umi felt self conscious under her gaze and began to fidget slightly, until Kotori finally spoke._

 _"_ _I love you Umi!" Kotori grinned widely, and Umi's face went red, fast. She felt an unidentifiable feeling course through her body, her chest feeling warm and bubbly and her cheeks feeling hot. What was this? Happiness usually was flutters and exhilaration, excitement was butterflies and adrenaline, maybe this was nervousness? Whatever it was, Umi had never felt it before, and at the same time it made her uncomfortable and really, really happy._

 _"_ _I love you too Kotori." Umi spoke the foreign words a few times, not realizing that her repetition of the words was causing Kotori to flush darker and darker every few seconds. Her parents had never really addressed her like that. Sure there was the common 'Good Night' or 'How was your day' but 'I love you' was the rarest thing in the world to Umi._

 _"_ _Umi! Stop please." Kotori whimpered, surprising Umi. Hadn't the girl been very happy a few seconds ago?_

 _"_ _Huh, why?"_

"...Maki?"

"Yes?"

"You're one of my best friends right?"

"Of course."

"What is love?"

"...Love is where you...Love is where you love somebody so much that you would put them before yourself."

"..."

"..."

"And Maki you love me?"

"Yes, I just told you that." Blush.

"...I love you too."

"Nico, Nico she is so cool! Nico, oh Nico ain't a fool! Uh-uh!" Nozomi found herself amused at Nico's singing. Sure the girl was a great singer, but most of the things she was singing didn't really make that much sense.

"I thought you were a talented singer Nico-chi~."

"Shut it Nozomi." Nico growled, before quickly continuing her singing. Nozomi rolled her eyes, walking down the dark halls with Nico at her side. All the doors had been locked, obviously, and they were now on their way back from the search that had unfortunately led to nothing.

Nozomi felt her mind wander to the exchange she had shared with Eli. Ever since the... _moment_ they had had in the woods they hadn't spoken at all. They had barely acknowledged each others presence, even, which really in this type of situation could be considered normal.

And even though Eli had done a pretty awful thing, Nozomi still found herself thinking of the blond. Especially after the surprise confession, finally revealing to Nozomi what had happened those many years ago.

It was all because of Mr. Ayase.

It was odd, since Nozomi and Mr. Ayase had always had a pretty good relationship. He was almost like a second father, due to the fact that her parents were always out of town and were never around. Nozomi was well aware of the fact that he was a homophobe, but it didn't really mind Nozomi. It wasn't like she was gay or anything.

But at the end of the day she was.

She had fallen in love with Ayase Eli. Maybe she hadn't been aware of it at the time, but she had, and after being dumped-that was the only word that popped up in Nozomi's mind that seemed appropriate-she went through, well, a depression. A really, really dark time.

And she didn't even have her parents.

Nozomi did resent her parents. They were completely unaware of this, but Nozomi did still love them...Right?

And at the end of the day, was Eli really entirely in the wrong?

Well, yes in some peoples eyes, but she was only human. She had loved Nozomi for years and then had Nozomi had been ripped away from her by her own father. Eli didn't have anybody to cope with the situation with either, so they were stuck in the same box.

Of course, Nozomi didn't date Maki or Umi.

The idea seemed to foreign to her, engaging one of those two in a romantic relationship. But Kotori was always one to love easy, though Nozomi didn't know it was that _easy_ , and maybe Eli was like that too.

Plus, the two were both without some sort of romantic love or any physical comfort and contact for years, so what was Nozomi to expect? Not everybody could deal with being without love for that long.

"Nico, Nico...HOLY SHIT!" Nico's scream snapped Nozomi back to reality and she instantly grabbed onto Nico's shoulder.

 _"_ What?! What is it?!" Nozomi yelped, fear running through her veins as the adrenaline pump immediately followed.

"That door is open and we didn't even notice!" Nico exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a door that was slightly ajar, and Nozomi slapped a hand against her forehead in annoyance and relief.

"You have got to be kidding me Nico-chi." Nozomi sighed shakily, earning a laugh from Nico.

"Nozomi? I thought you were fearless!" Nico teased, laughing at her friend.

"Well maybe because you _screamed_." Nozomi mumbled in annoyance, eliciting another laugh from Nico who marched triumphantly towards the door. The raven haired girl peeked in while Nozomi watched her warily.

"...Hmm? What's this?" Nico wondered as she entered the room. Nozomi followed after her, not wanting to be in the hallway alone.

It was very dark, but thankfully there was a candle lit on a small table in the center of the room. There were three doors in the room, each leading somewhere unknown, but there was something else that piqued Nozomi's interest.

"That's me..." Nozomi trailed off at the photo of her, hanging on the door. Next to it was a picture of Eli, and Nozomi identified it as their school pictures. It creeped the violet haired girl out, and instinctively she reached for the handle, disappointed when she found out the door was locked.

"Well this is frickin creepy." Nico shivered, and Nozomi could hear the fearful tone in her friends voice. She was currently studying a door, which had her and Maki's photos hanging on it. The final door was of Umi and Kotori, obviously.

"This was Rin, but what are her motives behind this?" Nozomi wondered, feeling drawn to find out what was behind the door. Nico seemed to be feeling the same way, for she continued to struggle with the handle of the door, hoping that it would somehow open the more she played around with it. "Nico-chi it's not going to open." Nozomi said, Nico groaning in frustration.

"Well, whatever." Nico growled, releasing the door handle. "Listen, let's had back to the main lobby. Everyone will probably want to know about this." Nico said, Nozomi nodding in agreement.

"Good thinking, let's go." And with that, the duo headed back to the foyer. Kotori, Eli, Umi, and Maki were all chatting on the stairs. Things were a little tense, but Nozomi assumed past mistakes were forgotten just for this time so they could escape the hell house.

"Guys you'll never believe what we saw!" Nico called after the girls downstairs, darting down at a fast pace, jumping at the bottom to skip a few stairs.

"Be careful moron! If you fall we'll have a bloody person we'll have to deal with." Maki yelled, earning an eye roll from Nico.

"Yeah whatever. Nozomi hurry up!" Nico called out to the violet haired girl, who shook her head in amusement and skipped down the stairs after her friend.

"What's up?" Umi asked the pair, followed by other murmurs from the three other girls who were also confused.

"There's this room you guys should see. Hurry up!" Nico ordered, getting everybody to the room quickly, even Kotori who was stumbling the whole way, still slightly asleep.

But she was jolted into consciousness after seeing her picture hanging next to Umi's on one of the doors.

"What is this?" Kotori asked, looking at her picture on the wall in wonder, Umi standing next to her.

"That's me...Isn't it?" Umi said, pointing to her picture, earning a nod from Kotori.

"Yep, and that's me. What's going on here?" Kotori wondered, shocked by her own casualness with Umi who clearly was slightly uncomfortable. But really, they just needed to get out of the house and find Rin, and hopefully get her arrested or something.

"Rin is one twisted thinker, isn't she?" Eli muttered, examining her own picture.

"She sure is..." Nozomi trailed off, stopping herself from saying 'Eli-chi' once again. Her eyes darted over to Nico who was standing next to Maki, the redhead looking at her own picture in annoyance.

"Rin sure planned this out, didn't she?" Maki said loudly, addressing everybody in the room.

"Yep, she sure did. I'm pretty sure we're supposed to get into these rooms somehow, but we have no way of getting keys." Nico said glumly, starting to feel slightly defeated. A nudge from Maki kept Nico back in her confident state.

"Umi and I found a key in our hallway, maybe it will work on one of these doors?" Maki wondered.

"Try it, you never know." Eli suggested, earning a hum in agreement from Kotori, and Maki immediately began trying to unlock all three of the doors.

"Dud, this key isn't meant for any of these." Maki said, earning a groan from Nico and disappointed noises from everybody else. Except Umi.

"Hey, this means nothing. Actually it is a good thing that this key didn't work on any of the doors." Umi explained.

"And why's that genius?" Nico grumbled. Umi took a deep breath, adjusting her tie before she focused back on the task at hand.

"Then we would be lost without a lead. Sure, one of the doors would be open, but how could have we opened the other ones? Where would've it lead to? We need to use this key and look down the hallway you and Nozomi looked in, see if the key works on one of those doors." Umi planned out every point perfectly, ready to continue on the investigation. "Now, let's move." Everybody complied, except for Kotori who was still moving a little snow. "Y-You too Kotori." Kotori snapped back from reality, nodding towards the blue haired girl in acknowledgment.

"Thanks Umi." Kotori smiled, catching up to the blond haired girl and Umi couldn't stop the jealously forming in the pit of her stomach.

"There's no escaping." Maki's voice grabbed Umi's attention, and she looked at her red haired friend in confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Umi wondered, but was quieted by Maki grabbing her hand and pulling her to follow Nozomi and Nico who had taken the lead.

Maki had continued trying every door, Nico by her side every single time, ultimately replacing Umi as Maki's partner in crime. Umi was a little annoyed by this, but pushed it away and decided to take a spot next to Nozomi.

"Sorry about Nico-chi, she's a little...absentminded." Nozomi giggled, earning a smile from Umi.

"Don't worry about it, Maki's been dying for an opportunity like this for some time. I'm just happy that she had found it." Umi admitted.

"You're a good friend Umi, under all the circumstances." Nozomi's compliment threw Umi for a loop, but she knew the girl had been ultimately talking about the situation with Eli and Kotori.

"I wouldn't say that I'm a good friend, but I'm understanding." Umi corrected, her voice softening. "That's just the way things are. Human emotions are things that humans can't really control themselves, which is unfortunate for us, but a part of our daily lives. I could say that I am feeling resentment towards Eli, but that is not true, because that is not how I feel. I can say I am feeling angry because of her actions, but I do not hate her in any way. The same goes for Kotori, there's no way I could...I could hate her." Umi averted her eyes, adjusting her tie yet again. She noticed the sudden contact on her shoulder, it was Nozomi's head.

"I feel the same way, Umi, I feel the same way." Nozomi admitted. In any normal circumstance, Umi would be very confused by Nozomi's sudden actions. They were barely acquaintances and were often viewed as enemies.

But under the _circumstances_ things had changed completely. That being with Kotori and Eli's situation and the fact that they were sealed in the old Otonokizaka school against all their wills.

Eli had noticed.

Eli had noticed Nozomi's head resting on Umi's shoulder. The Rose Red representative had a great girlfriend, she was beautiful, friendly, happy, forgiving, every quality Eli ever wanted. But yet she was still jealous.

But Kotori was the same way wasn't she?

She was looking at Nozomi with the same eyes as Eli who was staring down Umi. Love was a fickle, fickle thing that nobody could control unfortunately. Eli liked Kotori. Eli loved Nozomi.

"Oh my Lanta!" Nico's cry shook everybody from their thoughts as Maki was finally able to open up one of the doors. The redhead girl immediately stumbled in afterwards, the five girls quickly dashing into the room to follow her.

Maki looked around the room with interest. It looked like it was the Principal's office, there was a desk in the right corner of the room and cabinets on the walls, containing files of information. The six girls spread out throughout the room, ready to search it clean after the turn of events and finally a breakthrough.

"Good work Maki." Umi congratulated her friend, patting her on the back.

"No problem." Maki replied nonchalantly.

"I know that yo-."

"Just be quiet." Maki finished the conversation, earning a light chuckle from Maki.

"Okay guys, let's search this room clean." Eli announced, heading towards the Principal's desk. "There has to be something in here Rin wants us to see." Everybody else hummed in agreement and the six girls searched the area.

Eli looked over the top of the desk, squinting through the darkness. She hated how dark it was, and though she had grown out of her fear of the dark, it still lingered and she couldn't help but be frightened by the old Otonokizaka school. It was creepy. Very creepy.

She stopped her hand from shaking and opened up two of the drawers, her hands shuffling through them to find anything of importance. There were a few papers, and Eli decided to pull them out and lay them on the desk. Rin was smart, and maybe there was some sort of secret code or something along those lines in the papers.

Simple things like scissors and pencils and such were ignored and eventually Eli closed the drawers, searching through new ones to find anything else. Some more papers, but that was about it.

"Umi, may I have your light please?" Eli asked, hesitating to ask the friend she had ultimately _betrayed,_ but all logic went to the pits when you were trapped in a abandoned school.

"Yep." Umi replied simply, tossing the light over to her friend.

...Yes, Eli was still her friend. At the end of the day, Eli was still her friend. The both of them just didn't know it yet.

Eli caught the light easily, thanking Umi before flashing it onto the papers, trying to read the old text. Some if it was junk like permission to go on field trips or signatures allowing students to travel to different competitions. The school was always for talented children, but this one seemed more oriented on the kids themselves, something Eli never really noticed in her own school.

"Here we go." Eli muttered to herself after finding something useful. It was a paper of resignation from the old principal, who had met the age of retirement. It was a normal way to go, but the paper was dated to be in 2003.

"Hey guys, 2003 was the year Otonokizaka Academy, the new one, was built correct?" Eli asked, earning a nod from Kotori that Eli could barely make out through the darkness.

"Yep." The brunette responded simply. Eli thanked her before setting the paper to the side, seeing that it was important. She continued to scan through the other papers, but found nothing of interest.

But she found herself going back to the paper of resignation. The women in the picture looked very kind, nice, and clearly with the papers in her desk acting as evidence she was involved in the school.

And there was no evidence of anything involving the flower divisions.

Eli picked thoroughly through the desk for a second time, and found nothing involving the flowers.

"Maybe it was an idea Principal Minami made up?" Eli assumed, still talking to herself as her mind reeled. What was the point of the flowers then? Eli always just assumed it was school tradition, but if it had not been in the original school, then there was no point for it to be a part of the school now.

Eli folded up the slip of paper and placed it in her pocket, prepared to present to the girl after they had found information themselves and the room had been cleaned out entirely. Noticing that the other girls were checking different parts of the room, Eli resigned to just rechecking the desk for any more information.

Maki and Nico looked through one of the cabinets, Nozomi and Umi looking through the one next to them. Maki decided to take the top half while Nico took the bottom half, and after they broke out into an argument about Nico's height and why she was looking in the bottom half Maki was finally able to get some work down.

All the folders in the duo's cabinet was student files, from A-Z, and Maki scoured through each and every single one, hoping to find something of interest.

"Aha." Maki said quietly after finding a key in one of the files. Maki didn't show anybody anything, for she knew they would all immediately want to try it on one of the doors-next to Umi-and Maki wanted to continue to search the room. She tucked the key into one of her pockets without anyone knowing and looked into the file where the key dropped out of.

 _Haruka Minami_

 _Year of graduation: 1991_

 _Principal: Mrs. Takashi_

 _G.P.A: 4.0_

 _Haruka Minami is a brilliant student, extremely successful in all of her studies and extra curricular classes. Along with her extreme talent involving business and mathematics, she is sure to go very far in life, I guarantee._

Other basic information was sprawled across the sheet as Maki scrolled over the paper of her principal, surprised that she was also a student in Otonokizaka academy.

 _If she was successful in business, why did she become a teacher?_ Maki wondered, reading the paper for a second time. _And why does Rin want us to know?_ Yes, clearly the key had been placed in Principal Minami's file for a reason. But, Rin had said the purpose for keeping them in the abandoned school was so they would transfer to Tulips.

But obviously by this point that wasn't the only goal the orange haired girl had in mind.

 _Ima ga subete_

 _Sore nanoni kako ga karuku ki ni natta_

 _Hen da souda watashi rashi kunai yo hen da yo_

"Has the room been cleared?" Nico asked. She was disappointed, she hadn't found anything and neither had anybody else.

"Yep." Everybody echoed, and Nico groaned for the umpteenth time that day. Actually, she wondered if it was even still Christmas at that point in time. _What a shitty Christmas._

"I found something, though." Eli explained, holding a slip of paper. Maki hummed, walking over to the blond to stand next to her.

"I found something as well. It involves Principal Minami." Maki added.

"Mine too." Eli finished, earning a weird look from Kotori.

"Huh? Really?" Kotori asked, surprised that of all people her mother was some how a part of Rin's plan. The two girls nodded in confirmation, Eli starting it off.

"I have the paper of resignation of the old principal, Principal Takashi." Eli explained, laying the paper on the desk so everybody could read it. Umi tapped her foot against the floor, the name very familiar.

"Takashi, he's the math teacher." Umi connected the dots earning a sound of realization from Eli who had recognized the name well.

"Right, he is. So his mother was the principal of this Otonokizaka?" Nozomi spoke this time, earning a nod from Eli. The two girls didn't make eye contact though.

"Apparently, or at least somebody related to him." Eli assumed. "And then here's another thing, there was nothing about flowers or anything in her desk."

"Actually, speaking of that, I didn't find anything on the flowers either." Nico admitted, everybody else agreeing with her. "That's sort of weird. What's the point of the flowers anyway then? Principal Minami always said they were tradition but this school didn't even have them." Nico wondered, starting to get suspicious until Kotori spoke up.

"It's really not that big of a deal." She defended, obviously starting to get irritated by everyone suspicious.

"It really is, actually." Maki interjected, placing her own paper on the desk. "Here's you mom's student file. Brilliant student, but a more brilliant businesswoman. So then what led her to become a teacher?" Maki wondered with a sarcastic tone in her voice. "Maybe it was just a dream to achieve, but normally peoples talents are intermixed with their dreams, and business may be an element of being a principal, but really it's not a key factor." Maki continued. "And even if she wanted to become a principal, why Otonokizaka? Maybe it was special in her heart, I'm not really sure." Nico pressing her hands together attracted everyone's attention.

"Obviously Rin is hinting at something involving Principal Minami is going on, and I'd like to know a little bit more. Unfortunately, we don't have a lead anymore." Nico reminded everyone. Maki smirked, grabbing the key out of her pocket and waving it in front of Nico's eyes.

"Actually, I found a key." Nico immediately swiped the key out of Maki's grasp before darting out of the room.

"Let's go losers!" Nico yelled, Maki's face gaping before she sprinted after the raven haired girl.

"Thief! Thief!" Maki called after the girl, trying to catch up. Umi shook her head, walking towards the door.

"Maki wait for me!" The blue haired girl called after her friend, hoping to catch up. Eli followed after her leaving Kotori and Nozomi in the office alone.

There was silence as neither of the girls made a move to leave the room. They exchanged looks a few seconds, and Nozomi was happy at the turn of events. She wanted to speak with Kotori.

Nozomi closed the door, facing her old friend with a wistful look in her eyes. There were bags underneath them from the sleep they were currently losing, but she was not tired because of the adrenaline rush from being trapped somewhere against her will. All instincts were kicking in and she never felt herself function so clearly before, even when she was in the same area with her two ex-friends.

"Nozomi...?" Kotori asked, taking a step back while Nozomi looked at her, a dead look in her eyes. It was horrifying;it was the same look Nozomi had aimed at Eli on her first day of school.

Nozomi walked over to Kotori, stumbling over her feet before catching herself quickly. Eventually she was standing in front of the brunette, who had fearful and guilty tears in her eyes.

"Kotori." Nozomi began. She wasn't sure why she was doing it now, but realized it was the purpose. It was one of the purposes.

This was Rin's intention. Keep them cooped up until they solved their problems, and not just with one another, but with themselves as well. As well as finding out about the mysteries and problems of Otonokizaka, what lay behind the scenes.

Rin was a track star. She was an academic failure, had problems in almost every single one of her classes other then physical education.

But Hoshizora Rin was a psychological genius.

"You were my best friend. You took care of me when nobody else did and helped me through one of the worst times of my life. And yet, you, the one who knew the most about the situation and how much it affected me, decided to _engage_ with the girl who we had spent years fighting _against._ My best friend, hell, the girl I was in love with. So why? Why did you do it?" Nozomi wondered, her tone weak and vulnerable. Tears slid down Kotori's cheeks, falling onto the floor.

"I don't know Nozomi. I-I just...I was lonely, and I missed Umi, and I...I don't know what's wrong with me. I never wanted to hurt you Nozomi, you are the most important person in my life, and I...I would take it back if I could, but I can't...so I won't." Kotori sniffed. "And I want your forgiveness, more then almost anything in the world." Kotori paused. "Next to you being happy. I would rather have you be happy then forgive me." Kotori sniffed, but before Nozomi could do anything, Kotori took a step back. "And I don't want this to look like some act of desperation. I want this to be genuine Nozomi. I don't want you to forgive me because you _need_ to, I want you to forgive me when you _want_ to." Kotori finished, smiling meekly at her best friend. Yes, Nozomi would always be Kotori's best friend, but Kotori may just be a lost cause in Nozomi's eyes.

Kotori side stepped Nozomi, prepared to leave the room, when a hesitant hand grabbed onto her wrist.

"Nozomi?" Kotori asked before she was pulled into a hug. She was shocked when Nozomi wrapped her hands around Kotori's neck, saying nothing at all. She wasn't sobbing, but Kotori could feel the tears from Nozomi's eyes falling onto her shoulder. "N-Nozomi...Why Nozomi? W-Why do you put yourself through hell?" Kotori asked, sobbing far harder then Nozomi was. "You need t-to look out for yourself Nozomi! Y-You're more important then me!" Kotori cried out, snuggling into her friends neck, a wanting for Nozomi to yell at her...scream at her. Something to relieve the guilt. Something to make Nozomi feel happy. That's all Kotori wanted anymore.

"...You know what they say about love Kotori?" Nozomi asked after a few moments of silence. A few more moments of silence followed, before Kotori had stopped crying enough to finally speak.

"What d-do they say?" Kotori sniffed, still resting against Nozomi's neck.

"They say true love is when you want someones happiness before yourself. True love isn't romantic love, true love is true. It can be romantic, it can be platonic, love is anything. Do you love me Kotori?" Nozomi asked. Not even a second passed before Kotori spoke up.

"Yes I love you." Kotori said immediately, not taking a second thought.

"No Kotori, do you love me?" Nozomi spoke with a more stern tone, and Kotori could tell Nozomi really wanted Kotori to think about it.

So Kotori paused for a few moments, and tried to picture a future. A future without Nozomi. It seemed unbearable.

But then she pictured another future. A future where she didn't have Nozomi, but Nozomi was happy. _Nozomi was happy with Eli._

"True love is when you want somebodies happiness before your own." Kotori repeated, more to herself then to Nozomi.

"Yes."

"Then I truly love you Nozomi." Kotori spoke, her voice dripping with sincerity and honesty. "I want you to be happy."

"But I truly love you too Kotori." Nozomi whispered. "So can't we both be happy?" Nozomi continued, resting her head against Kotori's which was still snuggled into her shoulder. "I can't imagine a world without you Kotori. And it's funny," Nozomi paused, taking a moment to laugh ironically. "It's funny because I tried so hard. I tried so hard to forget you, look forward to a world without you. But I just couldn't, because then you would be so sad. So depressed. And...I would be too. Is that bad? Is love not true if I value my happiness as well?" Nozomi wondered, her walls breaking down slowly as more and more tears spilled out of her eyes. Kotori shook her head.

"Of course not. Even though you value your happiness, it doesn't mean your selfish. Everyone deserves to be happy." Kotori replied simply, laughing as well. "Love is very confusing, isn't it Nozomi?" Kotori laughed again, eliciting a laugh from Nozomi too.

"You're cute, Kotori-chan~." Nozomi teased, and Kotori laughed again, droplets of water spilling onto Nozomi's clothing. The relief of Nozomi's happy voice, that being her teasing voice of course, was so overwhelming and amazing that Kotori started crying all over again.

"Thank you Nozomi, thank you." Kotori repeated, over and over again, never feeling so much relief in a long time. Nozomi giggled at Kotori's repeated thanks, holding the brunette closer to her.

"Your welcome."

 _Chotto kiite hoshikatta nayami no tane_

 _Kotoba ni shitara waraete kita no_

 _Kotori no oyatsu ni shichau kana_

"Jeez Nozomi's taking forever. And of course I'm stuck here with Maki." Nico grumbled, oblivious to the fact that Maki was standing right next to her.

"I'm right next to you, you know!" Maki yelled, twirling her hair while Nico rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah whatever." That had seemed to become a common catch phrase for Nico. "Anyways, we should just go on without them. They'll live." Nico grumbled yet again. Grumbling had also become a part of Nico's daily routine.

"You're acting like this is an apocalypse." Eli said deadpanned, and Nico grumbled yet again, but didn't say anything. The blond looked around the room, taking a seat next to Umi.

There was silence. Umi was barely acknowledging Eli's presence, and it killed Eli on the inside. There wasn't going to be any hugging, or tears, or anything along those lines. Eli and Umi were different. Umi was different, more importantly.

"...Umi I..." Eli was cut off by one of Nico's yells. This had also become a part of the girl's daily routines.

"Oh finally you slowpokes are here! Thank god, now we can go test out the doors!" Nico cheered, grabbing Maki's hand in a fit of excitement and she yanked the girl back up the stairs, heading down the other hallway.

"A-Ah! Nico!" Maki yelped, her face flushed as she unwillingly followed the raven haired girl who was supposedly her enemy. Umi immediately darted after the two, eager to get away from the situation with Eli, leaving the blond on the stairs in defeat.

Her blue eyes darted up to Kotori and Nozomi. Nozomi looked like, well, _Nozomi._ So as beautiful as always.

Uh...That wasn't what Eli meant.

But Kotori's eyes were red and puffy, and Eli immediately felt obligated to go check on the girl, so she left her seat and jogged up the stairs.

"Hey Kotori, are you okay?" Eli asked. Kotori looked over at her, a wide grin across her face. Eli had never really seen the girl that happy before.

"I'm great, thank you Eli." Kotori admitted, Nozomi standing behind her. Kotori suddenly stumbled forward, falling into Eli's arms, and the blond girl realized Nozomi had pushed Kotori towards her. But not in a mean way, more in a like...

A 'hurry up and hug her' way.

Maybe Nozomi was finally letting go, leaving Eli in the past to move on to her future. But Eli didn't want that.

The Rose Red representative wrapped her hands around Kotori, pulling the girl into a hug that kept the brunette warm and snug.

"I'm happy you're happy." Eli smiled, kissing her girlfriend on the forehead.

"True love..." Kotori mumbled, but Eli wasn't able to catch what the girl had said, so she just held her a little tighter and just hoped that Kotori was happy with her.

But she knew that wasn't true.

She knew, deep, deep down what Kotori really wanted. And Eli didn't think it would hurt as much as it did. Of course, Kotori knew what Eli _really_ wanted.

But that didn't ease the pain whatsoever.

Eli wasn't too sure if she had fallen in love with Kotori or if she just had a really big crush on her, but the thought of Kotori leaving her hit harder then Eli ever thought it would. But she knew it would happen eventually...

...Yes, not right, yes. It would happen.

So for now, Eli held Kotori close, and hoped she was happy for now. _With her._

"Let's go love birds~." Nozomi teased, and Kotori pulled away from Eli, blushing.

"Nozomi..." Kotori trailed off in embarrassment, dashing away from the violet haired girl before she could say more. Nozomi chuckled at her friends antics, before she faced Eli. "Eli-chi, I approve." Nozomi said simply. Eli nodded firmly.

"...It's not going to last long, is it?" It was more of a statement then a question, and in response Nozomi nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry Eli-chi." Nozomi said. Time stopped for a few moments as Eli looked at Nozomi, not too sure what was happening.

"I think it will be okay." Eli admitted. "Because you're here." Eli averted her eyes, before shaking her hands frantically. "I mean, that's not what I mean! Like, you haven't forgiven me yet or anything and I did really awful things, but I'll work for it! I promise, because now that everything is out in the open..." Eli paused. "I just want you to be happy Nozomi, I really want to make up for the years of pain I caused." And with a red face, Eli darted after her girlfriend.

Nozomi watched with tired eyes as she walked down the hall after everybody else, not wanting to be left in the dust. She wondered about what exactly was going on, and had no idea on how to describe it. Rin really was a genius.

"True love...Maybe it is real."

Maki rolled her eyes after Nico groaned for the thousandth time. None of the keys worked on the three doors, just as Maki assumed, but for some reason Nico had assumed they had hit the goldmine with that key.

"This sucks." Nico groaned, banging her head against the wall. "This sucks, this sucks, this sucks, this sucks, this sucks!" Nico yelled the last line before Maki's hand clamped over her mouth.

"Would you," Maki glared at Nico with an intensity that sent shivers through the short girl's spine. "Shut up for five seconds?!" Maki yelled. Nico shook away from Maki's grasp, crossing her hands over her chest and huffing.

"Yeah yeah whatever." After that, the rest of the girl showed up one by one to find out about the predictable yet disappointing news.

"Well, what do we do now-?" Nico was in the middle of complaining until she was cut off by a voice booming through the abandoned school.

"HO-HO-HO IT'S RIN CLAUS! Ha-ha that sounded so much better in my head." Rin coughed awkwardly into the speakers. "Anyways, come to the main lobby so I can see all yous." Rin said with an accent. "You can tell that I'm tired. Come to the lobby already!" With that the speaker dropped and there was silence.

"A breakthrough!" Nico charged, darting out of the room, Maki in tow with everybody else just a few steps behind. Eventually everybody was gathered in the lobby, Rin's obviously exhausted face on the monitor.

"Hello all," Rin took a sip from a mug, and everybody assumed it was caffeine. "I'm really tired and I was hoping you would all use the sleeping bags and go to sleep, but you didn't, so I've been stuck staying up all night watching you on cameras while my friends idiot one and two are sleeping." Rin explained, taking another sip from the liquid. "This caffeine has kept me alive."

"That's great now can you let us go now?" Nico asked, cutting Rin off from rambling further, who frowned.

"Wow, I thought you'd care but I guess not." Rin joked. "Whatever. Anyways, you guys have been doing very well. I am very impressed that you took initiative and didn't believe me about the locked doors. But you guys seem to be confused about the three doors in that one specific room, and I'm going to explain that right away." Rin took another long sip of the coffee, dark bags under her eyes and her movements being slow and sluggish in sharp comparison of her usual quick wit and fast movements. "Those doors have your faces on them, as you can tell. Each door leads to a different section of the third floor, which ultimately leads to a new 'puzzle' I would say. Now, the pictures on the door represents which people should go into which door." Rin explained further.

The room went silent. The pairings were obviously chosen on purpose, due to the past situations and whatnot. Eli was secretly very happy with this, time with Nozomi meant she would be able to talk to the girl one on one for the first time in years. Of course, she wasn't sure how the violet haired girl would respond.

Umi felt a pit grow in the base of her stomach, slowly branching out through her body in an infectious and terrifying way as different scenarios repeated themselves in Umi's head. She dared not catch a glance at Kotori for she knew the brunette was looking at her.

"Wait, do we have to?!" Nico asked, not wanting to be stuck with just Maki, obviously unaware of the fact that she had _just_ been spending her time with Maki.

"Yes of course! Or else there would be no point. And if you don't, I'll make sure you never leave, even if you solve the mystery of Otonokizaka." Rin laughed, before she started choking on coffee. "Okay," Cough. "I'm going to go now, bye." Rin's voice was hoarse as the live-stream was cut off suddenly, ending contact with the outside world.

Eli watched as everybody exchanged worried and annoyed glances, and took step forward, prepared to take the initiative.

"Well, with the information Rin has given us, the key wasn't supposed to work on any of the 'special'," Eli did air quotations with her index and middle fingers. "Doors so we're going to have to check the halls again. We didn't even check the 'Nico' hallway."

"Wait, what's the Nico hallway?" Kotori asked.

"That's the hallway Nico and Nozomi went down, I thought it would be easier to communicate things if we came up with names for locations." Eli explained sheepishly, scratching her head. Nozomi raised an eyebrow.

"So you came up with the 'Nico' hallway?"

"I think it's a great name!" Nico interjected. "Now, please continue Eli." Nico purred, batting an eyelash which elicited a laugh from Nozomi.

"...Anyways, so we'll check the Nico hallway and then we'll check the other hallway, which I think we'll call the 'Maki' hallway. We good?" Everybody echoed their responses, and they got moving to the Nico hallway-which Nico was very content about-and tried every door.

"None of them work, let's check the other hallway." Maki said, leading the way to the Maki hallway-which she wasn't so content about-with everybody else following her, Nico complaining the whole way. Everybody was used to this pattern now, so it didn't affect them so much as it did Nico.

Maki inserted the key into every single door. They were running out of luck when one of them finally opened up, and Maki was immediately shoved in after everybody tried to get in in a frantic rush.

"Whoa, calm down!" Maki cried, nearly being pushed to the floor as Nico trucked through to get into the classroom.

"Oh, it's a class room." Nico commented, looking at the desks. Umi stepped forward, analyzing the room to see if anything was sticking out.

It seemed like any regular classroom. A few seats and chairs and a chalkboard at the front where the teacher, obviously, would teach. There was a desk as well that had a name tag on it, which was the teacher's name, and Umi couldn't recognize it so she deemed it as useless.

"Okay, let's get looking." Umi began, walking towards the teachers desk. "I'll take the desk this time if you don't mind... _Eli."_ The name felt foreign as she felt it slip out of her mouth, and out of the corner of her eyes she could see Eli swallow.

"A-Alright." Eli stuttered out, immediately afterwards adjusting her tie as she began to search the classroom, Kotori at tow. The remaining three girls spread out through the room, Nico sticking closer to Maki, who was getting sick of the raven haired girl's denseness.

Umi looked at the top of the desk first, and after seeing it was clear of anything she moved to the drawers. The top few drawers had nothing of importance, but as she got into the lower ones, she noticed that all of the year's projects and such were tucked in the drawers.

 _So this was the Business elective._ Umi knew it was no coincidence, Rin had clearly orchestrated this on purpose, so the blue haired girl skimmed through the papers, looking for anybody of importance. _Ah, here we go_.

She pulled out a slip of paper that read _Haruka Minami_ at the top and had all of her marks spread throughout the sheet. _Amazing, she's aced every single assignment and test._ Umi gaped at the sheet, and folded it up and tucked it into her jeans pocket.

 _So then why did she become a principal?_ The common question rang through Umi's head as she continued to search through the desk, and tucked in the corner she eventually found a key and grabbed it instantly, the corners of her lips turning upwards. After tucking the key into the same pocket as the slip of paper, Umi closed the drawers of the desk.

"So what did you find Umi? All of us found absolutely nothing." Nico grumbled for the umpteenth time, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor while Maki yawned behind her. Eli and Kotori were chatting while Nozomi sat in one of the desks, slowly dozing off.

"I found this," Umi explained, unfolding the paper and laying it on the desk in front of Nozomi, stopping her from falling asleep. "Principal Minami was a star student in this class apparently." Everybody knelt next to Nozomi, trying to get a glimpse of the paper, Kotori pushing through the others to get a look.

"Wow, so she really was good at this wasn't she?" Kotori mumbled as her eyes looked over the words, Nico trying to crawl under her to get her own view of the paper.

"Kotori move it!" Nico cried out, squeezing through everybody to finally peek out from a contained area originally concealed by different limbs. She looked at the paper with interest, leaning her chin against the chest. "Okay so this is proof she really was into business and stuff, so how does that help us?" Nico wondered.

"Duh, Rin's obviously wanting us to really think about why she chose to be a principal instead of going into business." Maki explained in a dumbed down tone which elicited a scowl from Nico.

Umi laid the key down next to the paper, and before Nico could snatch it Maki grabbed it.

"Good work Umi-chan." Maki averted her eyes after saying the honorific while balancing the job of keeping the key out of Nico's grasp. "Listen you're not getting the key so calm down!" Maki spat, holding the key higher in the hair.

"Yeah yeah whatever." Nico squeezed back out of the group of people and stood up when she reached solid ground. "Let's get moving crew." Nico said, walking towards the door, everybody getting up from their spots to follow.

Eli kept in the back, looking back to see Nozomi falling asleep on the desk, her head lying against it. The blond smiled and walked over to the violet haired girl, poking her in the head before shaking her shoulders. "Wake up Nozomi." Eli said softly, trying to get her _friend-friend?-_ to wake up.

The Lily representative's eyes flickered for a few seconds, before she blinked and slowly arose from her spot on the desk. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, looking up at Eli with a tired, half asleep gaze that the blond found kind of cute.

"Ah, sorry. Just dozed off." Nozomi arose from the chair, walking past Eli towards the door. The blond jogged to catch up with her, and they exited the classroom. "Thanks for waiting." Nozomi smiled, and in turn Eli smiled as well.

"No problem." _What exactly is going on here? Are we friends? Or is Nozomi just tolerating me until we leave this place? But she's calling me by her nickname...So what does this mean?_ Eli's mind reeled as she watched Nozomi. It was actually like how everything was before Eli left, before she wrote the note and before she had to pretend that she didn't like Nozomi. _That she didn't love Nozomi._

"So can you recap what exactly happened in there Eli-chi?" Eli's heart skipped a beat, but she held her composition and adjusted her tie to hide her anxiety of speaking to Nozomi.

"Well," Eli explained that the room was the room for the business class and that, obviously, Principal Minami was the best student in the class. That was about it for that room, other then Umi finding the key.

The rest of the walk was silence. It wasn't awkward in any way, though. It was comfortable and familiar. Yes, familiar.

"What are we doing Eli-chi?" Nozomi asked casually, and Eli wasn't sure what exactly the girl meant, and she paused before she came up with a reasonable response.

"Well..."

"Would you two hurry the hell up? I mean, come on!" Nico's voice made Eli pick up her pace dramatically, while Nozomi laughed behind the blond girl, keeping pace so she could walk beside her _friend_. Were they friends? Nozomi didn't know, everything felt right with the world, but everything felt wrong at the same time.

"You've got to be joking kidding me."

"What does that even mean?" The conversation between Maki and Nico didn't really make much sense to everyone else as they had now found something else to argue about after the key didn't work on any of the three doors. As everyone except Nico expected.

"Okay, well let's just rinse and repeat what we were doing previously. We'll check each door in both hallways through process of elimination and find the door the key fits. Easy." Umi explained.

"Why do you speak like that?" Nico asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Umi.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You mean: what's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what I said. What is that supposed to mean?"

"What's. Not what is, what's."

"That's what I'm saying!"

"Okay, can we please just move forward?" Kotori begged, rubbing small circles into her head and immediately Umi adjusted her tie, coughing awkwardly into her hand.

"Ah, apologies." Umi took a step back from the raven haired girl and averted her eyes, flushing slightly in embarrassment of her actions. "Please, let us continue." Umi finished, exiting the room with awkward air hovering around her. Kotori followed with Eli besides her, and the three remaining walked together.

After trying a few different rooms, they finally found the door the key was meant for in the 'Maki' hallway. As per usual, Maki was shoved in by Nico as everybody fluttered in eventually.

"So what room is this supposed to be?" Eli wondered, looking around the classroom. It looked just like the other classroom they were just in previously, and in just a few seconds Nozomi yet again plunked into one of the seats.

"I'm not going to fall asleep, I'm just taking a seat." Nozomi explained, extinguishing everyone's thoughts as they all murmured 'okay' and settled off to begin exploring the room.

Nico and Maki went to check the desk, while Kotori went to check a large cabinet in the back. The brunette opened the two large doors revealing the boxes inside. Labels were on the front of every single one, and Kotori's eyes scanned over each one until it landed on Haruka Minami.

 _I wonder why it's kept in boxes?_ Kotori wondered. She looked around to the closest person to her, which of course had to be Umi.

"Eh...Umi?" Kotori called out to the girl, who instantly was startled and looked up at Kotori with a unidentifiable look in her eyes.

"...Um...Y-Yes?" It felt like they were back at stage one when Kotori first asked Umi to get ice cream with her. That made Kotori's heart sink. But she was determined to not show it so she wore a smile.

"I was just wondering if you would help me move these boxes." Kotori asked, and Umi nodded her head frantically.

"Of course." Umi replied immediately, walking over to Kotori quickly as she took a peek into the cabinet. "Ah, I see," Once Umi felt herself get comfortable, she straightened up. "U-Uh, I'll get it." Umi easily moved the boxes as Kotori watched in interest.

"You know, you've always been strong for being a nerd." Kotori teased, not exactly sure what to say to the blue haired girl. But she wasn't one to sit back and say nothing, so she felt the words slip out of her mouth before she could hold them back.

Umi's cheeks went red in embarrassment-Kotori remembered that happening often-but continued moving the boxes.

"W-Well, you know me." Umi cleared her throat. "Are you going to stand there and watch Kotori? I don't mind moving all the boxes but..." Kotori shook her head, stopping herself from staring at the blue haired girl as she reached to grab a box.

"S-Sorry, just lost in thoughts." Kotori admitted, setting another box onto the floor. Umi nodded.

"I don't blame you, it is tiring being trapped in an unknown place and then trying to escape." Umi joked, and Kotori laughed, not just at the joke but at the fact that Umi _had_ joked.

Umi cleared her throat for the second time and grabbed the Haruka Minami box, handing it awkwardly over to Kotori.

"Thank you Umi." Kotori thanked, setting the box onto the table while Umi adjusted her tie for the thousandth time.

"I'm...I'm okay with it." Umi said suddenly, still fidgeting with her tie as Kotori gave her a confused look. "I'm okay with you dating Eli. You deserve it." Kotori's heart stopped at the words, and Umi kept her eyes anywhere but Kotori in embarrassment.

"Thank you," Kotori said slowly, reaching to grab Umi's hand. She hesitated for a second, then followed through with her plan, Umi tensing at first at the contact before she settled down. "Really Umi, I mean it. Thank you." Kotori smiled, grinning at the blue haired girl who had a small smile on her face.

"And, I...I think we should be friends." Umi's eyes widened at the bluntness of her words and tried to backtrack. "I mean, that's not what I mean! Nozomi and Eli have been...Well I _think_ they're _something_ by this point in time. And we have all seen the interactions between Nico and Maki, and I thought that we could...We could try to go back to where we were before?" Saying Kotori was shocked would be a complete understatement.

Umi was never the one to initiate things, ever. _Ever._ Especially since Kotori had gone behind the blue haired girls back to date one of her best friends. Maybe Umi felt like she was responsible?

 _No, we're both responsible._

"Umi," Kotori paused, wondering how to phrase what she was going to say. "You shouldn't be sorry." Umi raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't say anything along those lines."

"Umi, I know you." Kotori reminded the Rose. "I should be the one sorry. I should be the one on my knees _begging_ for our friendship because I'm the one who went behind your back, Umi! You should hate me." Kotori went quiet at the last couple of words. She was feeling so emotionally overwhelmed, with her just making up with Nozomi and now talking about something so emotional with Umi. Umi of all people.

Umi looked Kotori dead in the eyes, a serious look on her face as she took a step forward towards the brunette girl, placing her hands on Kotori's shoulders.

"I made the first mistake Kotori. I regret it every single day of my life. And yes, you did something that is a little...Unfair. But don't we all?" Umi found herself smiling as she looked at Kotori. "I think we threw away something amazing, and I don't want to lose it forever. We have one year left together, so instead of spending it hating one another like the past few years of arrogance, we spend it together." Umi suggested, confidence surging through her body.

"Thank you Umi..." Kotori's eyes glistened and she wrapped her hands around her friends neck. Her friend. Her _friend_. Umi was finally her friend again, and everything was okay again. "Thank you Umi!" She snuggled into Umi's shoulder, repeating the words over and over again, and Umi's face flushed more and more.

"U-Uh, n-no problem Kotori." Umi replied meekly, awkwardly patting the brunette on the back. Yes, they were finally friends again. She could talk to Kotori whenever she wanted and there wouldn't be an awkward air or the feeling of distance. Yet, Umi still wasn't satisfied. _I just need to realize I can't have everything._

"Hey that's a really nice moment you're having there, but we should get moving." Nico's voice ruined whatever happiness was flowing through Kotori's body and immediately Umi slipped away, awkwardly coughing and adjusting her tie.

"Eh, s-sorry." It sort of bothered Kotori, but she was used to the sheepishness of Umi, and it made her smile.

"Wait," Kotori looked at Nico who was currently holding a key. "Where did you find that?" Nico pointed to the box on the desk.

"In the box. Eli found it but I was able to get it before Maki could. He-he-he." Nico was somehow running on infinite energy, and Kotori wasn't exactly sure how, but she was.

"Wait, so what was in the box?" Umi asked, the box contents sprawled across the desk. Nico grabbed a piece of paper and handed it to the Rose red girl. Kotori leaned over Umi's shoulder to get a glimpse of the paper as well.

 _Haruka Minami_

 _Course: Out of school future_

 _Assignment: Jobs Planning_

 _Alike the majority of my classmates, I know exactly what I want for my future. It's most likely because we all have our talents, which I am very thankful for, so we already are-in a way-guaranteed a future. We really our extremely lucky, and I haven't really taken the time to think about it, but it's true. We are practically guaranteed a future._

 _Anyways, I know for sure I want to go into business. I think I want to work in my fathers company, and as you already know, he is the owner of a multitude of hotels around the world. I think my father had done an amazing job with it, but once I inherit it, or hopefully inherit it, I already have a full out plan of what I am going to do with it._

Kotori was surprised. For the majority of the time Kotori hadn't really been digesting what was going on, but now it all sunk in.

"Umi." Kotori exchanged looks with the blue haired girl, who was nodding at her as well.

"You're mother lied then." Umi said slowly, and Kotori nodded in a slow matter as well.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Nozomi asked, standing next to Nico who was also looking at Umi with a puzzled expression. Umi exhaled slowly, before facing the four other girls who weren't in on the whole exchange.

"As you all know, Kotori and I were very good friends in our childhood. Often I would go to her house, well she'd force me to go, and I knew her mother rather well. But she had told us that her father was a plumber and her mother was stay at home." Umi remembered the memory as if it were yesterday. The blue haired girl always wondered about how the woman was so rich before she had even become the principal of Otonokizaka, and it was starting to add up.

"My grandfather passed when I was really young, so I guess my mom just made up everything she ever told me about him." Kotori added, incredulous that her mother would lie about her own father. "But what's the point of lying about something like that?" Kotori addressed the other girls in this question. Eli shrugged.

"I'm not too sure, but I think it had something to do with her transitioning to becoming a principal. What year did she become principal of Otonokizaka?" Eli asked.

"Actually, that's a good question, I have been wondering myself." Nozomi threw in her two cents, followed by a hum of agreement from Maki. Kotori held her hand to her chin in thought for a few moments.

"2003." Kotori recalled. That was when she had only been six years old, the year after she had met Umi. "Yes, she had become principal of the school and then decided to build a new one." Kotori continued.

"That makes sense then that she would make a new school." Nozomi thought aloud.

"Why's that?" Umi asked. Nozomi shrugged.

"Well, just think about it. She originally planned to redesign her fathers whole hotel line when suddenly that idea was thrown out of the window. So she made a whole new Otonokizaka maybe because she wasn't able to make her own hotel? That's just what I'm thinking." Nozomi explained.

"But wait, Principal Minami graduated in 1991, and became principal in 2003, so she would be, assuming she was eighteen when she graduated, she would be thirty when she became principal. So what happened between the ten year gap of her twenties?" Maki wondered, the question more or less being pointed at Kotori.

"Well, when I was born, she was just doing odd jobs, if I recall, until she became principal. She was also going to school as well." Kotori said.

"She must have been getting her masters degree." Umi said.

"Yeah, but doesn't that take like, seven or eight years?" Nico reminded the blue haired girl. "She must have started before Kotori was born."

"Which is 1997?" Eli asked Kotori, who nodded her head. "And Kotori was only six when Principal Minami became, well, principal. So she must have been going to school two years earlier, in 1995. That would be when she was 22 years old. Why would she go to school so late?"

"Well, who said that was her first time going to school? Maybe she started years earlier, and clearly by what this says, she must have gone into business." Nozomi held up the piece of paper. "So what changed?" Silence spread throughout the room as all eyes were on Kotori. She was the woman's daughter, so she must know _something._

"...Well..." Kotori trailed off, twiddling her thumbs. "My dad died in 1993, so maybe..." Everybody's face softened at the sudden revelation, and Umi grabbed Kotori's hand and squeezed it.

"Ne, sorry Kotori." Umi apologized, but Kotori just shook her head.

"I didn't know him, so it doesn't bother me." Kotori insisted, squeezing the blue haired girl's hand in return. "But, I'm sure it bothered my mother." Kotori continued, facing the rest of the girls this time.

But Kotori continued to hold Umi's hand. And it didn't go unnoticed by Eli.

"So the death of your father," Maki paused. "Stopped her from going into business? I can see how it would stop the process, but would it shatter her dream completely?" Maki wondered. Nico shook her head.

"I don't believe that for one second. Something else must have happened as well, because clearly she went through some kind of a depression for a long time." Nico said, which caused Kotori to raise an eyebrow.

"Why do you think that?" She wondered, an odd tone in her voice which made Nico smirk for a few seconds before she frowned. This wasn't a joke, they were talking about the girl's mother.

"Well...Just think about it...How are you here today Kotori if your dad passed two years earlier?" Nico said the words slowly, giving everybody time to think on it.

Shock spiraled through Kotori's body.

Her eyes went wide as she ridiculed herself for being such an naive idiot. How could she not see this before? How had she been obvious all these years?

"I was born from a one night stand." The words sounded silly, but when they came out of the girl's mouth it sent a chill through the already haunting school. Everybody blanked. They had no idea what to say to the girl. And clearly, the girl had no idea what to say as well.

"...Well this is awkward." Except for Nico.

 **HANDS IN THE AIR FOR THE LONGEST FUCKING CHAPTER IN THE WORLD. JESUS CHRIST. HOLY SHIT.**

 **Anyways, since this has been such a long chapter, I have so much catching up to do. Also since we had a fucking triple update, that puts me even farther behind. I'm not the smartest person ever am I?**

 **Anyways, a lot of things happened this chapter. Friendships have been rekindled, and KotoEli is clearly crumbling at the seams. KotoUmi is starting up too!**

 **And NozoEli is a little...odd. As you can probably understand, it's quite a weird situation their in. Being trapped in a house together and all that.**

 **And lot's of NicoMaki! Well, friendship wise, since Nico is totally obvlivious to what she is doing. This chapter was more about discovering shit, the next one will be ROMANCE! YES, FINALLY! WHAT EVERYONE'S BEEN WAITING FOR!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Rin's bell shook everyone from their thoughts. "Seems like shit has hit the fan! Hilarious! Anyways, everyone gather in the lobby! And don't be slow about it!" And as fast as she was there, Rin was gone leaving the six girls in utter silence.

"Kotori I-."

"I SAID MOVE FATTIES!" Rin's voice cut Umi off and everybody darted out of the room, even Kotori. Sure the girl was traumatized, but Rin was scary.

The six girls gathered in the foyer to see Rin's face on the monitor. She was still drinking coffee, and clearly wanted to go to sleep, but was still awake.

"I was really hoping you would all eventually go to sleep, but I guess adrenaline can keep you going for a while. As for me, I'm fucking tired, but that's the way it is." Rin yawned, taking a sip from her mug. She was still, surprisingly, in her Santa Claus suit.

"What do you want Rin? Now's not really the best time!" Eli yelled, her eyes darting over to Kotori who looked like she was dead, inside and out. Nozomi and Umi were hovering around her while Maki and Nico stood beside Eli, also staring down the screen in a means of scaring off Rin.

A laugh escaped Rin's mouth as she took yet another sip of coffee. "It's the best time for me! Anyways, you guys have certainly gone all detective mode haven't you? Yet, you still haven't figured everything out, but you've got the gist of the beginning. Anyways, it's finally time for you to enter your rooms. Isn't this exciting?" Rin asked. Nico placed her hands on her hips while Maki twirled a piece of her hair.

"Wait, I thought we needed three keys. This is only one." Nico recalled, and Rin chuckled for the second time.

"Oh Nico, you're stupid. That key doesn't work on any of the doors, it opens up the box containing the keys. Eli had overlooked it when she was putting out the sleeping bags, which I remind you, is meant for sleep!" Rin took a long sip of coffee while Eli exchanged looks with the other two girls before trudging over to the bin.

Opening it up revealed a small box tucked neatly in the corner. Eli mentally kicked herself for not noticing it before, and she reached out and grabbed the box, picking it up and closing the bin when she was done.

It was a wooden box, beautifully decorated and had a lock keeping whatever was inside, well, inside. Eli carried the box over to Nico and handed it to the raven haired girl, who grabbed it quickly and in one swift movement, inserted the key into the box.

Inside was just as was expected, three keys that would open each one of the doors.

"And there you have them! Now, please enter with the partner you are supposed to enter with, or you are not getting out until the end of Christmas break! And I don't think I put enough food in there to last that long so if you choose not to go along with it, you're going to starve bitches!" And with that, Rin was gone and the screen was black yet again.

Nico chattered excitedly about finding the keys, but she stopped after realizing everyone had surrounded Kotori, who clearly was emotionally scarred. Nico didn't find it to be that big of a deal, but clearly the brunette didn't feel the same way.

"Why didn't my mom ever tell me?" Kotori wondered. "Was I just not important enough?" Umi shook her head.

"Of course you're important Kotori." Nozomi nodded in agreement.

"Yes, she just was probably embarrassed." Nozomi cooed, but this seemed to be the wrong word choice.

"She's embarrassed by me?"

"It's really not that big of a deal Kotori." Nico interjected. Everybody gaped at her words, especially Maki who glared at the raven haired girl.

"You idiot! Shut up." Maki whispered angrily, hoping Nico would stop herself, but instead she walked towards the brunette.

"I mean, even if it was a one night stand, it's not really important who it came from. What matters is that your mom gave birth to you anyways and took care of you. It doesn't matter how you came into the world, what matters is that you were lucky enough to have someone to care for you. I was the same way." Nico admitted, slipping her hands into her pockets as she looked upwards through the skylight. "I thought, wow, I must be a mistake. But nobody is ever a mistake. We can make mistakes, but us ourselves will never be mistakes. That's what you need to understand. That's what everyone needs to understand. I'm really sorry about all this, and why it seems to be targeting your mother, trust me it would bother me as well. But now isn't the time to be sad, because we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Then you can do whatever you want, but can you just tough it out a little longer?" Nico pleaded, her eyes interlocking with Kotori's. They gazed at one another for a few moments, before the girl nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Nico." The raven haired girl nodded, the corners of her lips turning upwards into a smile. A calm one that Nico didn't wear often.

 _Hot._ Maki immediately flushed once the word entered her brain, and she wanted to mentally kill herself. She quickly distanced herself from Nico, hoping the girl wouldn't notice.

"No problem. Anyways, we better get moving." Nico reminded everyone, they all nodded in agreement, except Maki who was 'hiding' behind Umi. With the Lily girl leading the way, they all headed to the room.

The walk there was silent as they all mentally prepared themselves for what exactly was going to happen. They had all survived as six, but the thought of being separated, especially with the person they had a past with, was frightening.

Eventually they all stood, each standing before their door, one person holding the key for the corresponding door.

"Okay guys, keep on your toes. We'll never know anything until it happens." Eli instructed, taking a deep breath as she exchanged looks with Kotori. Eli smiled at her girlfriend, who returned the smile, but something didn't feel right about it.

"And everybody better make it out alive, especially you Nozomi!" Nico said, exchanging looks with her friend who winked at her.

"As long as you don't eat Maki alive first~." Nozomi hadn't meant it as an innuendo at all, but once it came out of her mouth Maki and Nico's faces went beet red and they instantly broke out into an argument, eliciting a laugh from Nozomi.

"A-Anyways," Umi broke in, the argument between Nico and Maki dying immediately as they both humphed and turned their backs to one another. Kotori rolled her eyes while Umi continued to speak. "Let's make sure to remember everything we see. With Rin, every bit of information is important." Umi reminded everyone, and they all nodded in agreement.

 _"_ Okay, so let's get going." Maki said, and everybody nodded their head. Suddenly, Nico stuck her hand in the center of the room, grinning widely. "What are you doing?"

"Duh, we're going to cheer." Nico explained, and while Maki rolled her eyes everybody else stuck their own hands in, one by one.

"Wait, are you guys serious?" Maki asked incredulously, and Eli nodded.

"Come on Maki, don't ruin the fun." Eli joked, and Maki stuck her tongue out at her friend, regretting her actions immediately afterwards. She then tried to play it off by looking away disinterestedly, but Eli's laugh made Maki's cheeks go red.

"Shut up Eli." Maki mumbled, eventually conceding to sticking one of her hands in. Nico smirked at the redhead, which earned her a glare, but she didn't mind as she exchanged looks with everyone else.

"Okay, let's do it team!" Nico cheered, and everyone cheered along with her, even Umi and Maki who looked uncomfortable.

And with that, it had begun.

 **Nico and Maki**

The pitch blackness frightened Maki, and instinctively she grabbed onto the nearest person to her. Unfortunately, it had to be Nico since she was the only one there.

"You're such a wuss." Nico laughed as they moved through the short dark hallway. Maki scowled, but said nothing in response. She wasn't afraid of the dark, it was just creepier when you were in an abandoned school.

But everybody already knew that.

After a few minutes of traveling through the darkness a dim light could be seen, and Maki made it out to be a candle sitting on a small table in the middle of the hallway. She quickened her pace, Nico complaining about it, and grabbed the candle holder. She instantly felt better being able to see, and saw that there were stairs just in front of the table leading to the third level.

"Are you ready?" Nico asked, moving her head to look at Maki. The redhead shrugged.

"I guess." Maki replied simply, heading towards the stairs without a second thought.

"Hey, wait for me!" Nico called after her. The raven girl wasn't so sure what was going on between her and Maki, but it seemed like things had been odd between everyone. _This must be what it's like to be trapped in an abandoned school._

They walked up the stairs at a quick pace, reaching the third level soon enough. It was more open in comparison to the second level. There were a few different rooms in the area, but that was it, everything else must have been in the doors the other four had entered.

"Okay, let's get looking then." Nico said, and Maki nodded in agreement. The girls checked all the doors, all of them being locked. "Great, now what?" Nico mumbled angrily.

Maki rolled her eyes at her friends constant complaints and tried all the doors again, making sure they weren't missing anything. After clearing through the place for a third time, the redhead was sure that there was nothing to find in the area.

So now she had to think. Rin wouldn't just trap them in there, she knew that much. So what was the puzzle this time? Obviously the key to one of the doors had to be somewhere the girls had been to previously, not including the second level of the school. The Rose Red girl pondered if they had come in contact with anything, and looked down at the candle.

"Hmm...Maybe." Maki held the candle holder closer to her face so she could get a better look at it. It was golden in color, and had a elegant design, but there was nothing special about it. _Unless._

The redhead looked closer, analyzing the holder as she realized that it could be unscrewed.

"Nico, can you hold the candle? I think I'm on to something." Maki explained, waiting for Nico to walk over.

"Whatever you say Sherlock." Nico grumbled, and Maki unscrewed the top part of the candle stick, realizing it separated into three different pieces. She handed it to the raven haired girl and then moved to unscrew the bottom part.

After removing the two pieces from one another, Maki realized the bottom piece was completely hollow, and instinctively turned it upside down, a key falling to the floor.

"A-ha." Maki reached down to grab the key and picked it up, then dangled it in front of Nico's eyes. "Look at this, I found the key." Nico rolled her eyes, huffing while Maki reattached the pieces of the candle holder.

"Lame." Was all Nico said as Maki eventually asked for the candle head, in which Nico passed back with more complaining.

"You complain a lot you know." Maki said, candle in one hand and key in the other, as she began testing the key in each door.

"And you're stupid. Some issues can't be solved." Nico replied, walking alongside Maki. The redhead shoved Nico lightly, who shoved back the same way. This shoving game continued until Maki was finally able to find the corresponding door for the key.

"Finally." Maki held the candle in front of her, entering the room with Nico at tow. The room was another classroom, and Maki wasn't too sure what to identify it as, alike the other classrooms.

"I wonder what Rin had in store for us this time." Nico wondered with a yawn as she looked around the classroom, eventually walking towards the desk. The raven haired girl checked the drawers to find something she never expected. "How...?"

The picture of Nico and Maki was from a long, long time ago. Before Otonokizaka, at their old school. It was pajama day, one of Nico's favorite days, and Nico was dressed in her favorite one-piece. It was green and had trees on it, and Nico wasn't sure why she had loved it so much, but she had.

Maki was standing next to her, with her regular school uniform. She had been the only student not wearing pajamas and had stuck to her school uniform. _What a stickler._

But how could Rin have found a picture of them two?

"Hey Maki, look what I found." Nico called out to the redhead, who hummed and began walking over to the Lily white girl.

"What?" Maki asked indifferently, peering over Nico's shoulder to see the picture. "Hey, isn't that pajama day?" Maki recalled, pointing at the clothing Nico was wearing. Nico nodded, watching as Maki stared off into the distance, remembering the memory. "I hated that day." Maki finished, walking away from Nico who stared after Maki.

"You're a freaking party pooper." Nico mumbled under her breath. "But aren't you confused on why there's a picture of us in here?" Nico asked. Maki stopped walking, and Nico realized Maki hadn't even thought about it. "I thought you were the smart one!"

"Yeah I thought I was too!" Maki spat, turning around to face Nico, marching towards the raven haired girl. In a quick movement she snatched the picture from Nico's hand. "How could have Rin gotten her grubby hands on this?" Maki mumbled under her breath. Nico shrugged and ran a hand through one of her pigtails.

"I'm not sure, but it has to have some importance, knowing that crazy bitch. Let's keep looking, a key ought to be around here somewhere." Nico deduced, and Maki looked at the picture a little longer before she slowly nodded in agreement.

The redhead left the Lily girl to herself at the desk and took a look around the classroom. There wasn't much else in terms of cabinets or bins, but there was one desk way in the corner of the room.

With her interest sparked, Maki walked over at a quick pace, trying not to show her excitement and anxiety. After she eventually reached the desk, she saw a piece of paper lying against the table.

The Rose girl picked it up, holding the candle towards it to get a better look of the writing.

 _Dear Mrs. Takashi_

 _My name is Nico. I like things like rainbows and puppies. I also like singing. My mom likes to sing too. She sings very pretty._

 _I think I have lots of friends. Everybody is Nico's friend of course! Except one girl, her name is Moki. Actually I think it is Maki._

 _I went to ask her what her name was. She didn't respond. I think it is Maki._

 _Maki is not very nice to the other kids. I do not no why. They are all very nice to her._

 _I think she is just lonely. I am going to play dress up with her today! Maybe she will be happy._

 _Journal Entry 1_

 _Yazawa Nico_

 _Year 1_

"Holy crap..." Maki mumbled under her breath, remembering the year she transferred to the same school as Nico. All the kids had pestered her the whole time on her first day, especially one raven haired girl.

After picking up the slip of paper, Maki realized there was another piece of paper underneath. Instantly Maki held it up as well, hoping there was more writing.

 _Dear Mrs. Takashi_

 _It's Nico again! I played with Maki. She was not as mean as before. I think she smiled too! But when I asked her she did not say anything._

 _Her mommy and daddy did not come to parents come to school day. I wonder why. Maki looked upset. I shared my mommy and dad with her. She looked more upset._

 _So I told her I would be her mommy for the day. She got mad and said it was weird. I thought it was weird too._

 _So I just said we could be friends! Maki was not upset after that. And then she pretended to be upset for a second. Maki is very weird._

 _Journal Entry 2_

 _Yazawa Nico_

 _Year 1_

After reading the words over for the second time, Maki lifted the piece of paper too, hoping that there would be another one underneath.

Thankfully there was one last sheet, and it was typed instead of being in messy handwriting.

 _Dear Mrs. Takashi_

 _I still wonder why I direct my letters to you even though you don't even read them anymore. Or maybe you do, I'm not sure. But it's become habit ever since grade one so I think you'll be okay with it by this point._

 _I'm also confused on why we still do this journal thing. It made sense when I was a kid, but next year I'm going into high school, so I think I'm old enough to stop writing in a journal. Actually, that's what Maki says, I like writing in this journal._

 _It's sort of writing your feelings out, and then somebody sees it. Well, I don't really know if you are seeing this or not. Hi to whoever is reading this right now._

 _If you don't know who Maki is, she's my friend of...seven years I'm pretty sure. We're best friends. But don't expect for that to come out of Maki's mouth any time soon._

 _We're going to Otonokizaka Academy for Talent Youth after we graduate. Maki's a really good piano player, if you didn't know, and I'm an amazing fabulous singer. I thought we could be a duo act, but Maki doesn't really seem to feel the same way. Loser._

 _I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fun living with Maki and getting to see her all the time. She doesn't feel the same way. No, I know she does. She's just kind of bad with the whole feelings thing._

 _I think I have written enough for the day. To whoever is reading this, if you know Maki, look out for her okay?_

 _And don't tell her I said that!_

 _And if you win the lottery give me the money!_

 _Journal Entry 96_

 _Yazawa Nico_

 _Year 8_

Maki couldn't exactly look out for herself.

She was shocked on how much Nico wrote about her. Maki wished she could look at all of Nico's journal entries, but Rin wasn't that giving.

Journal writing had been a thing at the school Maki and Nico attended. Maki had never really been a huge fan of it and kept her entries to a minimal, but her raven haired buddy had always loved writing.

She looked at the girl out of the corner of her eyes. Nico was currently looking at the pajama day picture, which confused the redhead since they had already looked at it.

But with a shrug, she tucked the journal entries into her pocket. Nico didn't need to know of this, she would probably start freaking out.

"Hey, I saw that yo!" Nico called out of nowhere, and nervously the redhead's eyes shot up as she realized she had been caught in the act.

"W-What?" Maki placed a hand on her hip, trying to look at anywhere but Nico. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"A lot of people I know can't lie it seems." Nico mumbled as she walked over to Maki, reaching her hand out. "Gimme."

"No."

"Gimme, gimme."

"Would you shut up?"

"Just give me the damn paper already!" Maki rolled her eyes, but relented and pulled the papers out of her pocket, placing them in Nico's open palm.

The raven haired girl's eyes widened at the sight of the sheets of paper.

"Whoa, how did Rin even get these?" Nico wondered, looking over them a few times to see if they were the real deal or not. "She must have gotten them...Wait!" Maki jerked away when Nico suddenly shoved the pieces of paper into her face.

"What the heck Nico?" Maki barked, twirling a rose hair while Nico rolled her eyes.

"Just take a look! Mrs. Takashi was my year one teacher and she was the principal of Otonokizaka!" Nico explained. Maki looked at the name, mentally kicking herself for not instantly recognizing the name.

"Just wait a moment Nico, how could she possibly be your teacher and the principal at the exact same time?" Maki wondered, which elicited a grumble from Nico who thought she was onto something.

"Fair enough. But this has to be a relative or something." Nico deduced.

"No duh. Now what exactly is the significance of the Takashi's to Principal Minami? And further, how could have Rin possibly gotten these papers?" Maki voiced her thoughts, knowing that Nico certainly didn't have the answers.

"She must have gotten them from the math teacher himself. There all chummy or something."

"...Did you just say chummy?"

"...Anyways, so Rin must have asked the math teacher for them. Maybe he just asked his relative for the papers?" Nico wondered.

"So at this point, we've got a Takashi who was the principal of the old Otonokizaka, the Takashi who teachers at our Otonokizaka, and the one that taught at our old school. Doesn't that seem oddly...?"

"Specific." Nico filled in, in which Maki nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, how could they all be somewhere at once?" Maki wondered. Nico shrugged.

"I don't know. It could just be coincidence. What would they have to do with anything anyways?" Nico said thoughtfully. Maki sighed, running a hand through her hair to keep herself from getting too frustrated with all the questions.

"I'm not too sure. But with Rin, I think we'll find out soon enough." Nico hummed in agreement with the statement. "Anyways, let's go find the key. It has to be somewhere in here." Maki reminded the shorter girl, who smirked and shook her head.

"Nah, already found it." Nico held up a small key, and Maki had to hold the candle closer to it to catch the words.

"Infirmary." Maki read the text that was written on the key. Nico nodded, and began marching out of the classroom.

"Let's go Maki! Onward and forward my dear Watson!"

"You totally got the line wrong."

Opening the infirmary door was what Maki had expected. Everything was white. White walls, white floors, white beds. It was all the same. And Nico knew it.

"Um...Maki, I think I'm just going to stay out here." Nico said weakly. It was the first time Maki had heard Nico sound like this in a long time, she had been the one keeping up the energy the whole entire time they were stuck in the abandoned school. It also made Maki feel worse because _she_ had been the one who had given Nico the bad memory in the first place.

The redhead cleared her throat and moved her collar slightly to keep herself occupied. "Yeah, sure Nico. Be careful." Maki responded simply, earning a meek 'thank you' from Nico before she entered the infirmary and closed the door behind her.

Maki's eyes examined the room cautiously as she now felt more scared then before without the presence of the raven haired girl. She held the candle closer to her so she could get some warmth from the fire, but that was more of an excuse then the actual reason why.

There was a desk in the corner of the room that acted as the nurse's 'office' and it was cut off from the rest of the room that carried basic school health policies.

Maki walked over to the desk, seeing that the top was barren and that she would have to stick to drawers for any information. Opening the top drawers revealed something that Maki hadn't expected. And it hadn't come from Rin.

 _Newest Candidates:_

 _Fujimoto Saki_

 _Toujou Nozomi_

 _Ayase Eli_

 _Yazawa Nico_

 _Nishikino Maki_

 _Sonoda Umi_

 _Kousaka Honoka_

"The hell...?" Maki didn't swear often, but this really confused her. Actually, more like it scared her.

The paper was dated to be back a years ago when Maki was still young, so how had they already known about her? Clearly they must have heard from newspapers and such, but why learn about her then? She was useless then, she wasn't old enough for high school. She was barely hold enough _for_ school.

Sifting through more papers revealed something that was a little more shocking.

 _Taichi Takashi will be positioned at Toujou Nozomi and Ayase Eli's school as the nurse._

 _Both Daisuke and Hinata will be positioned at Kousaka Honoka's school as the physical education instructors._

 _Akira will be posted at Yazawa Nico and Nishikino Maki's school as the first year teacher._

 _Please make sure to tell them before the first of November to give them notice time._

"...Are they watching us?" Maki muttered the words a few times, fear escalating through her body as memories flashed back to her first year teacher. The woman had seemed perfectly normal, and was a great teacher, always gave out candies and such. Though she did seem to ask some more personal questions, it hadn't seemed odd to Maki since she was merely in first grade. She was more responsible then the other students, but she still was very young.

This seemed to be beyond Principal Minami herself. Was she aware of the Takashi's? Surely, one of them taught at her school. So what was the importance of them?

They seemed to be some sort of spy group. They would collect information on the talented children _..._ but why?

To make them attend Otonokizaka?

But why was that so important? Why did it require so much time and effort just to get a few more kids to join the group? Maki didn't know.

"...M-Maki?" Nico's voice startled Maki who jumped. After recovering she spun around to glare at Nico before she took the time to study her...Friend?

The normal jumpy and active raven haired girl now seemed pale and fragile. Her hands were wrapped securely around herself and she kept her gaze on Maki in fear of looking anywhere else.

"Nico?" Maki looked at the shorter girl with worry and took a few steps towards her, wondering what exactly she was doing. "What are you doing?"

"Uh...Are, are you almost done?" Nico wondered faintly, her feet brushing against one another. Maki nodded her head.

"Yeah Nico, I just need to find the key. Can you wait a little longer?" Maki spoke slowly and softly, guilt churning through her gut as she felt a small headache form in her head. She took a deep breath to stop it from spreading, not surprised when Nico copied her.

The room became silent while Maki studied Nico. For being a short girl, Nico always emanated strength and perverseness. She could overcome anyone, no matter what her size was. But seeing her now, vulnerable, broke the redhead's heart.

"I'm sorry Nico..." Maki choked out, turning her back to the girl so she wouldn't see the tears that were threatening to breakthrough. This was just an overwhelming moment, nothing more, nothing less. All Maki had to do was breath and she'd be fine.

"No Maki, I'm sorry." Nico's voice, which was now suddenly strong and confident, blew Maki away and she suddenly felt hands wrap around her waist. Nico leaned against her shoulder blade and began to hum.

An unknown tune.

"I should have forgiven you that day." Nico suddenly stopped humming and began to speak, and Maki perked up her ears, trying to not focus on Nico's arms that were currently holding her. "I still got what I always wanted in the end."

"No, I can see why you didn't forgive me. I mean, just think of what I did. It's pretty..."

" _Insane?"_ Nico finished with the smile, and the two broke out into bitter and ironic laughter that only last a few moments before it was gone. "It was the spur of the moment Maki, nothing more nothing less." After these words, Maki squeezed out of Nico's grip and turned around, placing her hands on the raven haired girl's shoulder.

"Don't just brush it off like that Nico! You could have been paralyzed! You could have been seriously injured, as if you weren't already." Maki continued to ramble, and Nico curled her fists as she felt herself getting frustrated at Maki's denseness.

"WOULDJA SHUT UP FOR FIVE FREAKING SECONDS? JESUS." Silence followed Nico's outburst as the raven haired girl scowled. She averted her eyes, her cheeks slightly rosy. "I wasn't paralyzed. I wasn't seriously injured. You shouldn't apologize for something that didn't happen." Nico grumbled, scratching her head as Maki removed her hands from Nico's shoulders.

The redhead averted her eyes, embarrassed at the sudden turn of events. She twirled her red locks as an uncomfortable silence hung in the room, making Maki feel naked. It was a weird feeling to say the least.

"Ne, Maki-chan?" Maki's eyes went wide at the honorific and she uncomfortably tapped her feet against one another, trying to keep her eyes off of Nico.

"What?" Maki asked with fake disinterest, still twirling her hair as she hoped Nico would eventually leave the room so she could continue her searching.

"I'm going to kiss you now." The sudden declaration sent a thousand butterflies through Maki's body as with enormous eyes she turned to the raven haired girl who had an unidentifiable look in her eyes.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Maki yelped, her face dark red in color. She expected this type of boldness from Nico, but she secretly hoped the girl was just joking.

But when she saw Nico take a step forward, all logic went to the pits.

Maki began to breath erratically as Nico turned her head to the left and the right, as if there was a chance somebody could be watching. Once she finally focused in on Maki, the redhead felt a gasp escape her mouth and her cheeks grow warmer and warmer with every passing second.

Nico still had the unidentifiable look all over her face. It wasn't cold, yet it was hardened. It wasn't cocky, but it was confident, she was sure of herself. It wasn't playful, but it wasn't entirely serious.

It was never Nico. Yet, it was always Nico at the same time.

And when Nico began to lean in, Maki held her breath so she wouldn't burst out into coughing fits. She wanted to run, break through the window somehow and just run deep into the woods.

And yet something made her stay. Something made her _want to see what came next._

So she waited, her heart beating at irregular levels that she couldn't analyze as a heart problem or palpitation. It was...love?

Maki didn't have time to think over the thought because Nico was quickly leaning in, surely about to close the gab, leaving Maki to just try to stay put without squealing or running away.

"...I'm just joking kidding!" Nico laughed, suddenly leaving Maki standing expectantly, and she zipped towards the door, laughing as she went.

Maki's face went bright red, and this time not out of embarrassment or affection, this time it was out of anger.

"What the hell was that Nico?!" But Nico had closed the door to escape the redhead's rage. "Stupid..." Maki stopped herself from saying any more, and placed a hand on her chest, trying to steady her breathing so her heart rate would go down.

Maki wasn't sure what that was, but she decided to put it behind her for now so she could focus on her job.

There wasn't much else in terms of information in the infirmary, like Maki had expected, and eventually found the key in an empty bottle of rubbing alcohol. After securing the key, she looked at the infirmary door with apprehension.

She didn't want to leave the infirmary any time soon.

Which was ironic because at first she hadn't wanted to be there any longer then she had to.

How things have changed.

With a surge of courage, the Rose Red girl clutched the handle of the door and opened it almost violently, accidentally knocking Nico off of her feet who was leaning against the door.

"Ah! Calm toi!" Nico yelped, stumbling over herself before she eventually caught herself. Maki decided to ignore her awful use of French and rolled her eyes, walking down the hall without giving Nico a second thought. "Hey, wait for me!" Nico yelled, darting to catch up with her.

Maki tried her best to ignore the raven haired girl, which seemed extremely hard even though she had been eliminating the girl's presence from her mind for years.

 _Why now?_ Maki wondered bitterly as she trudged down the halls, ignoring Nico's attempts of conversation and focused on finding the appropriate door for the key.

Finally a door opened, and Maki internally sighed in relief as she walked into the room, Nico stumbling behind her.

"You have got to be joking kidding me." Maki groaned, using Nico's line as she looked at the different props that were around the room. It had to be the drama room or something along those lines.

Nico seemed to have a different reaction for her eyes brightened at all the different dresses and costumes. She immediately scurried over to them, Maki assuming she was going to immediately throw them on. Instead of being stupid, Maki instead decided to scourge the room for any information that would point them, or _her,_ in a good direction.

There wasn't any desks or papers in the drama room, much to Maki's expectations, and her eyes roamed the room for a type of closet to the room that _would_ be containing those things.

She eventually landed on a door and walked over to it expectantly. To her shock, it was locked, which she should have expected. She sighed in frustration and ran a hand through her hair, turning away from the door to see something so horrifying it nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Hey hey hey stay out of my shed!" Nico yelled from inside of the horse mask she was wearing, causing Maki to jump back in shock, causing her to hit the closet door. She groaned in pain and rubbed her back while Nico chuckled loudly from inside the horse mask. "Gotcha!" Nico broke out into another roar of laughter, but Maki kept her cool and successfully ignored the girl as she walked towards the costumes, hoping to find a key among the mess of clothing.

Nico seemed to be grumbling after the lack of reaction from Maki, so the redhead took the opportunity to search in moderate silence. She eventually found a key tucked into the pocket of some overalls. She smiled at her accomplishment and marched over to the door triumphantly, unlocking it with ease.

Inside was boxes chalked full with more costumes and such, along with papers that seemed to include old fliers of musicals and plays. Maki immediately began sifting through different boxes, hoping to find something that would amount to anything, and Nico quickly copied.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence Maki finally found something of interest.

 _Dear Haruka,_

 _I know you are planning on getting an abortion. And I know you are going through one of the hardest phases of your life, with that being the death of your father and husband. I am strongly advising you that it is a poor decision if you want to go into business._

 _People are bound to find out and that is bad for appearances. One wrong mistake can never be repented for in the world of business and media. Now, I hear that you no longer want to go into business._

 _I would not blame you for that. But, I have an offer that I think you would find quite enticing for the situation you are in._

The paper was ripped and that was the only section of the letter that Maki had, but the information was good enough to finally see what the image of Principal Minami was.

"Nico, read this." Maki spoke with an icy tone and practically shoved it into the raven girl's hands. She winced for a moment, but held the typed letter up to eye vision and Maki held the candle towards her so she could see better.

Maki watched with intrigued eyes as Nico's features changed into surprise.

"So she was going to get an abortion." Nico muttered as she continued to read through the letter. Once Nico finished, she handed the letter back to Maki who folded it up and tucked it into her pocket. "So this is probably what led her to become principal I'm guessing." Nico theorized. Maki nodded gingerly.

"I agree. Something about this letter is...off. I wonder who it's from." Maki sucked it up and finally decided to speak. She really didn't want to, but it was about the school now. Not about her and Nico.

In the bottom of the box where the letter was there was a key. Maki reached down and grabbed it before leaving the room, not saying anything to Nico who automatically followed behind her.

After a few minutes of the silence being kept by keys being forced into locks that definitely didn't fit, Nico finally spoke up.

"What the hell?" Maki at first thought it was Nico screaming at nothing in particular and decided to leave her be, until the raven haired girl eventually spoke up again. "I said, what the hell Maki?" Nico spoke with a fiery tone which instantly ticked Maki off.

"What the hell? What the hell?! What the hell is wrong with YOU Nico?" Maki spat, spinning around to interlock gazes with the black haired girl, both of them clearly enraged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nico retorted, crossing her hands over one another in a means of intimidation. "I didn't do anything wrong?" Maki gaped incredulously.

"You tried to kiss me!" Maki barked.

"It was a joke!" Nico responded in an annoyed tone, tapping her foot impatiently against the old wooden floors of the school.

Maki rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, it was a joke! It was a joke! As if saying it was a joke would solve every problem in the world!" Maki laughed ironically, earning a glare from Nico who scoffed.

"You're taking it way too personal Maki!" Nico tried to brush off the situation, averting her gaze from Maki's direction. With a rush of confidence and anger, Maki reached out and grabbed Nico's wrist, turning her so she would face the redhead. She then pulled Nico close, making sure she wouldn't get away.

"You're _lying."_ Maki spoke in a heavy tone, one chalk full with coldness and another emotion Maki couldn't pinpoint herself. "Why are you lying Nico?" Maki repeated, looking Nico straight in the eyes, who didn't even have the choice to look away.

Nico fidgeted around for a few seconds, but after realizing there was no escaping, she relented and let out a shaky breath. She eventually looked away from Maki, not wanting to look into those eyes any longer.

"...I thought you wouldn't like it." Nico explained quickly, in a slow tone as if she were reluctant to say it. A blush appeared on Nico's cheeks immediately afterwards, and Maki struggled to stop the warmth that was traveling to her cheeks.

Her chest bubbled and began to warm rapidly, realization hitting her like a truck.

There was silence for a few minutes, Nico trying to look anywhere but at Maki, and Maki trying to look at only Nico. It was quite the opposite of how things usually were with the two.

"I'm going to kiss you now." Maki repeated out of nowhere, and Nico's eyes went wide as she instantly reared her head to face Maki, who looked like her cheeks were next to a furnace.

"Wait what?!" Nico yelped, but before she could say more, she was cut off by soft lips.

Instantly a warm feeling brewed in her stomach, sending chills through her spine. Maki's hand wrapping around her waist sent electric shocks that traveled through her whole body, and Nico held back a shiver. She closed her eyes and reciprocated the kiss slowly, the bubbly feeling expanding dramatically, sending her heart rate spiraling.

Nico instinctively placed her hands on Maki's shoulders and leaned more into the kiss, deepening it with Maki repeating her actions. After a few moments the two separated to catch a breath.

Maki wasn't too sure what to. She _assumed_ Nico liked it since she had kissed back, but her usual nerves reappeared and she averted her eyes in hopes that Nico wouldn't see her scarlet blush.

But Nico never would, for instead she resided for leaning against Maki, fitting perfectly into the crook of her neck.

"T-this...This is nice." Nico eventually whispered into Maki's ears, and she could see the blush spread on her cheeks. She laughed into the younger girls neck, feeling oddly sentimental. Maybe not oddly. Just sentimental.

"Uh...Uh...Uh-Um..." Maki continued to repeat the same thing over and over, lost for words, which elicited a laugh from Nico.

"It's okay Maki..."

"I love you." Maki blurted out, and she probably would've immediately covered her mouth if her hands weren't currently wrapped snug around Nico's waist. That thought alone made Maki blush harder.

It also heated Nico's cheeks who was surprised statement. Maki had never been one for emotions. But, whenever she had something to say, she usually blurted it out randomly and sometimes it didn't even make much sense.

But Nico loved that.

"I love you too."

 **THERE YOU GO! ARE YOU CONTENT NOW! NICOMAKI IS FINALLY HAPPENING! THERE HAS FINALLY BEEN ROMANCE. YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!**

 **I hope you all liked it. I know I need to improve a bit on my romance writing and shit so hopefully I will some day!**

 **Now either NozoEli or KotoUmi is next. I dunno, we'll see. Not much talking this chappie, but review time!**

 **HOLY HELL 70 REVIEWS THATS CRAZY!**

 **Thanks a bunch to** ** _Jun Sakamato, MaryLoves, good ol' Camay, JayxNitro, Rhyer, Nathy11, and newcomers Farcast, ChiPee21, Lietenant Bird, eliichinozomi, some guest reviews, and finally Lenka!_** **Let's see if we can hit 80 Reviews somehow! :D**

 **If I missed you I am deeply sorry and I appreciate your review either way. Just so you all know, I read every single review, so I noticed there are some questions.**

 **Two different guests, unless they are the same person, corrected some spelling errors. I'm just saying I apologize for any grammer or spelling errors, and I reread every chapter I post and then cringe after I see a grammer error so please just roll with it for now until I finish the story, then I'll go back to fix everything.**

 **Lol and sorry for two Nozomi's!**

 **A lot of people have also been saying that Eli kissed Kotori, which she did, but what I mean is that Kotori kissed Eli. Like, i'm not saying Kotori initiated the kiss, Nozomi is just saying that Kotori did kiss Eli. You feel me?**

 **Lol somebody asked me to add Tsubasa, Erena, and Anju to the story. And actually, they wil be in the epilogue! So there ya go!**

 **RinPana will not be a romance in this story, unfortunately. Hanayo just wasn't a huge character in the story and Rin isn't really looking for romance. But if you guys really want to, maybe I'll have Rin end up with Honoka or Hanayo. Your choices.**

 **Anyways I hope you all liked the chapter! It was a pretty long one as well so I hope it makes up for no update yesterday!**

 **Also I wanted to say, since this story is coming to a close I will be starting up a new one pretty soon, and it was be a NozoEli! Yay! And background NicoMaki and KotoUmi, and probably badass Rin, I don't know.**

 **It will have a very interesting plot, and it will kind of be like a dystopia in a way. Kind of sort of like Divergent but not really, more like the book The Giver if you've heard of it, but still different. Far different.**

 **So if that interests you and you want NozoEli then please follow me to so you can see the story when it comes out!**

 **Without further ado, goodbye and have a great day! :D :D :D**


	14. Chapter 14

Umi wasn't one for small talk.

And that was just the honest truth. It wasn't the bane of her existence, or anything along those lines, it just kind of...bored her. Conversation was made to engage one another, not to talk about pointless subjects which wouldn't amount to anything.

But Kotori was a talker. And Umi liked it that way.

But now there was no talking. Just a silence that hung in the air as the two girls walked down the empty hallways of the abandoned Otonokizaka. Umi had never been naive, so she knew that even though they had apologized to one another, things wouldn't start up for a while.

Kotori was a little more naive then most and yet she had held herself back. It was an interesting thought to ponder for Umi. Maybe the girl had ditched, at least, some of her naivety after the years of absence of the blue haired girl from her life?

If so, good for her.

If not, thank God.

Umi was maneuvering through the darkness, light in hand. She had tried to give it to Maki, because she valued the redhead's safety more then her own, but the redhead had ultimately been too stubborn and had refused all together.

Though at least she knew that Kotori could see.

"Watch your step Kotori, there's some stairs." Umi cautioned, noticing a staircase at the end of the hallway. Trying to hide her eagerness, Umi walked up the stairs at a quick pace.

"Slow down Umi!" Kotori called after the girl, struggling to keep up with the Roses quick pace. Immediately Umi slowed to a halt, adjusting her tie in embarrassment.

"Ah, apologies, seems that my excitement got the better of me." Umi apologized immediately, waiting for Kotori to walk alongside her before she continued the plight up her stairs.

Kotori giggled which only caused Umi to become more embarrassed. "Don't worry about it." Kotori giggled again, and Umi had to avert her gaze so she didn't do anything rash. That would be detrimental.

Eventually the duo found themselves on the third floor. It was similar to the second floor, and some places were not accessible-or completely unknown to the girls-due to the fact that the other four girls had their own respective spots as well.

Exhaling slowly, Umi immediately analyzed the hallway to take a look at the different doors. Against her better judgment, she decided to try to open every door, assuming they'd all be locked.

But her judgment had been wrong for the first time in quite a bit.

The last door in the hall had opened up, and Umi sighed in relief as she walked in, Kotori close behind her.

"Okay, let's skim the room for anything easy to see before digging in more thoroughly." Umi explained simply while Kotori hummed in agreement.

"Aye aye detective!" Kotori chirped, heading towards the desks of the classroom. Umi let out a shaky breath, hoping the brunette wouldn't see the light tints of pink on her cheeks.

 _I need to have control of my emotions._ Umi reminded herself, taking a deep breath before she headed towards the teachers desk, hoping there would be something there. It seemed to be a common hiding spot for important things.

Right on the top of the desk was a sheet of paper, decorated childishly with different stick drawings and plastered on pictures of smiling suns and something that looked like an elf.

"...?" Umi couldn't say anything as she picked up the slip of paper, and at closer inspection Umi realized it was a letter.

Flashing the light onto it, Umi narrowed her eyes and began to read.

 _HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!_

 _Hey daddy! It's your birthday! Isn't that fun?_

 _Mommy said we're all going to the park for your birthday! So fun! Birthdays are so fun!_

 _I love you so much daddy and I hope you have a great birthday! I even rapped you a presented!_

 _Love Haruka!_

 _P.S:_

 _This is top secret!_

 _Your present is hidden under my bed!_

Anybody else would smile at the cute birthday card, but all Umi saw it as was a piece of information that could easily be sucked dry. And the spelling error of 'rapped' instead of 'wrapped' greatly bothered her.

So what is Rin trying to prove by this bit of information? Obviously it was the fact that the relationship between Haruka and her father was a strong one. This was emphasized by the fact that there was a lack of information involving the girl's mother and the fact that she had gone through a depression at her fathers death.

Now Umi is not saying that she _wouldn't_ have gone through a depression at her mothers death, the woman would, expectantly. But her father had clearly been an important factor adding to the death of her husband.

"This is a lot to grasp..." Umi sighed, rubbing her left temple with her free hand.

"Hey Umi!" Kotori's voice shook the blue haired girl's from her thoughts and her head easily shot up to to look at Kotori. "Come here!" Umi nodded and walked over, making her pace slower then she wanted it to be so she wouldn't look like a freak.

Kotori passed the blue haired girl the slip of paper who accepted it with a nod. She looked over it quickly, looking for numbers or dates before taking a more thorough look.

 _Student: Haruka Minami_

 _I have decided to drop out of this school. I hope you are okay with this._

"Jeez, this is a really small letter. Do you really think the Dean would let her go?" Umi wondered, locking eyes with Kotori who nodded.

"You have to remember, she is a multimillionaire." Umi nodded after a bit of thought and returned the letter back to Kotori who tucked it back in her pocket. The letter had been extremely short and not very sweet. Umi assumed it was due to the fact that Principal Minami was, obviously, going through depression and probably didn't exactly have the urge to walk to the office or write to the Dean.

And of course the school would let her go since the Minami's were, clearly, a powerful group in the economy, or at least, an extremely rich family. But since she knew Kotori, she knew they were economically powerful.

"Come on Umi, let's get out of here. I got a key so..." Umi snapped back to reality, looking up and realizing that Kotori was already at the door.

"U-Uh y-yeah." Umi stuttered, exhaling slowly as she jogged to catch up with Kotori, who was giggling.

"Oh Umi." Kotori sighed, giggling again immediately afterwards while Umi just rolled her eyes, a smile not absent on her face.

The two exited the room, Kotori leading the way, key in hand. Umi trailed just behind her. There wasn't much in terms of information in the room, it was more of a recap of what they already knew. So, in Rin's terms, it probably meant something more interesting was coming up.

Soon enough they found the door that corresponded with the key. Umi stumbled in after Kotori, looking around the room with interest. Looking around the room, it looked like yet another classroom.

"What do you expect from a school?" Umi mumbled to herself. Kotori hummed in agreement, catching what the girl had said.

Kotori walked over to a cabinet in the back of the room, hoping for something interesting. It seemed like escaping the school had taken a back seat and learning more _about it_ had become priority.

Opening up the doors revealed multiple different boxes, containing boxes, of what looked like, pencil crayons and pastels. Kotori opened one up in interest, seeing multiple different drawings and projects stuffed inside.

Realization dawned upon Kotori as she took a real good look around the room. There weren't any desks, just large tables, and a white board instead of a chalk board at the front.

"We're idiots. This is the art room." Kotori said, loud enough for Umi to hear, who peeked up from her spot behind the desk. She made a sound of realization as she exchanged looks with Kotori.

"Okay, so what does an art room do with your mom?" Umi wondered, ducking back down to continue her search through the desk, most likely belonging to the art teacher.

Kotori shrugged. "It doesn't have to involve her. There have been a lot of classrooms with different information even though the classroom itself didn't have anything to do with it." Umi pondered the thought for a few moments before relenting.

"Fair enough." And with that Kotori continued her search through the boxes. She had to dig through a few things before she actually found something of interest.

 _DAILY NEWS_

 _CLOSING OF MINAMI HOTELS_

 _1993_

 _After the sudden murder of Minami_ _ **Ryuuji,**_ _different Minami hotels around Japan are rapidly closing. Apparently the Minami family doesn't want to deal with the burden of taking control of the company, and who could blame them after the recent turn of events. Though it did come off as a shock to the population, who had all assumed that Minami Haruka would take over the family business, after speaking about it for months._

"So that's what happened to the hotels." Kotori mumbled, looking over the report for the second time. It made more sense that they had been closed down, or Kotori would surely know about them.

And in a state of depression, and clearly it was spur of the moment, her mother had turned down ownership of Minami Hotels _and_ had ordered for all of them to be taken down.

Kotori tucked the paper away, scouring the cabinet for more information. Initially she assumed there wouldn't be anything else there, but more digging around revealed another extremely important piece of information.

 _To Principal Takashi,_

 _I have received the letter you sent me for the idea of a possible business partnership. Immediately I found the idea silly, but after giving it some thought, you bring up a lot of good points._

 _I will sponsor the school if I receive 75% of the earnings you get from other sponsors. I think that's a completely fair deal, since the offer you presented to be is pretty...Bold is the only word I can think of. Especially due to the fact the me sponsoring you will immediately bring in plenty of sponsors._

 _Please write back quickly so we can talk in far more detail. We have plenty more to chat about._

 _Minami Ryuuji_

"So this is what started the sponsorship's." Kotori assumed, tucking the paper away along with the other sheet of paper.

So this is what sparked the connection between the Minami's and the Takashi's and what also caused Otonokizaka to surge in popularity. If Minami Ryuuji was funding something then by god everybody else was too.

"I found the key." Umi's voice ripped Kotori from her thoughts. The brunette hummed and closed the doors, turning to walk over to the blue haired girl.

"Awesome!" Kotori cheered, causing Umi to avert her eyes. The Lily White wondered why, the girl had been doing that a lot lately.

Umi cleared her throat, forcing her heart rate to go down. _She's got a girlfriend, she's got a girlfriend._ "I didn't find anything else though, so I'm hoping you did." Umi wondered hopefully, and Kotori's nod satisfied her curiosity.

"Take a look at these." Kotori said simply, handing the Red Rose the sheets of paper. The girl accepted them eagerly, yearning for more information, earning a soft giggle from Kotori.

"...This explains quite a bit. Is this how the 'relationship' between the Takashi's and Minami's began?" Umi hadn't exactly asked anybody in particular, but Kotori took it upon herself to answer the best she could.

"I think so, though I wonder how involved the Takashi's really are." Umi hummed in agreement, before out of familiarity and habit, she grabbed the brunette's hand and pulled her to the door.

"Let's go Kotori." Clearly Umi was unaware of what she was doing, and Kotori had to hide both her blush and confusion. _She's been censoring herself the whole night, why is she stopping now?_

But the brunette decided just to let it slide as the Rose Red led her down the hallways, trying the key at every single door before one finally fit.

"Here we go." Umi muttered as she walked into the room. In sharp contrast to everything they had seen so far, it turned out the room was not in fact a room, but the janitors closet. "Are you jo...kidding me?" Umi stopped herself from using Nico's line, it had somehow caught on.

Kotori giggled at Umi's tone. "It's just come cleaning supplies, it won't bite Umi." Kotori laughed, and Umi rolled her eyes.

"Sorry Kotori for not wanting to explore the janitors closet." Umi spoke with a sarcastic tone, which shocked Kotori for a few moments. _Is she finally opening up?_

The blue haired girl looked around the room, completely unaware to the fact that her facade was slowly slipping away and the fact that she was _holding Kotori's hand._ Kotori was not sure how the girl was so oblivious when she had kept herself in check for so long.

Ignoring her rapid heartbeat, Kotori scanned the small closet, moving bottles of liquid spray and different cloths to maneuver around more. After a few minutes of nothing but silence, Kotori stumbled upon a letter with, thankfully, a key lying next to it.

It was a letter, clearly the middle piece because the top and bottom parts were torn off, leaving a small section. Kotori tapped Umi lightly on the shoulder, getting the girls attention and then immediately motioning to the letter in her hand.

 _As you know, your father and I were good, good friends. We were also business partners, he funded the majority of the school while I was principal. Now that I have stepped down, I have a proposition that will surely be life changing._

 _Now that Otonokizaka has a new principal, I have been cut off from earning anything from the school involving sponsor ships and such. That does not amuse me, no not at all, and it seems clear that the new principal wants nothing to do with me._

 _So, I was thinking, if I found a way to..._ _ **eliminate**_ _...the principal, would you step up in her stead?_

The note was ripped from that point onward, and a confused noise slipped from Umi's lips.

"Why would there be a need for, uh, your mother to step up as principal when she already had plenty of money from her father?" Umi asked. Kotori thought for a few moments.

"Maybe she didn't inherit the money?" Kotori thought, causing Umi to raise an eyebrow.

"It was her _father_ , why wouldn't she inherit the money?" Umi asked. Kotori just looked Umi straight in the eyes, her gaze begging Umi to think further. "...You don't think?" More staring. "You're joking right?" One last gaze. "You seriously think that _your_ granddad gave _his_ money to the _Takashi's_?" Umi asked incredulously, easily reading Kotori's thoughts. It was normal, they usually knew what each other was thinking.

"I know it sounds pretty far fetched, but think about it. My granddad asked for seventy five percent of the earnings, who would accept that kind of deal? Along with the fact that he also wrote that he thought the Takashi's offer was, quote on quote, 'pretty bold'." Kotori reminded, but Umi was still skeptic.

"Yeah, but still, it's a pretty huge offer. Plus, even if the Takashi's _had_ received the will money, why would they need any more?" Umi pressed further.

"Money does crazy things to people Umi." Kotori mumbled simply, her gaze soft, losing its sharpness. Umi pondered the thought again for a few moments, before sighing.

"We simply don't have enough evidence to support that theory. But I'm sure if we keep looking around, we'll find something to answer our question." Umi finished, closing and opening her hands. Or at least, that was her intention.

With a loud gasp Umi realized that Kotori's soft hand, was in fact, intertwined with hers and she hadn't even noticed. Immediately her face went beet red, and her breathing quickened severely as she mentally shot herself.

"What's up?" Kotori asked worriedly, before she realized Umi had suddenly let go of her hand. _Oh no._

"I'M SO SORRY KOTORI!" Umi yelped stiffly, bowing deeply before bowing yet again until it became rapid and endless. What had she been doing?! She had lost control, that was all, that was all...

Just take a breath.

"For what?" Kotori asked dumbly, even though she obviously knew what the Rose Red girl was talking about.

"For holding your hand! For such a long period of time as well! It's shameful!" Umi cried, still bowing robotically, the movements giving Kotori a small headache.

"It's okay Umi! We were just holding hands." Kotori said simply, holding back annoyance before Umi finally stopped and stood up stiffly.

"It's not okay! You have a girlfriend!" Umi reminded the girl as if she had completely forgotten. Kotori couldn't hold back a scoff.

"I didn't forget. You're making a big deal out of nothing Umi." Kotori didn't mean to get so defensive. Maybe she was angry that Umi had let go of her hand? _What the hell is wrong with me._

Umi's eyes widened as the sudden malice in Kotori's tone, and this, actually, ticked Umi off. _She_ was the one apologizing for what she thought she was doing wrong, and yet, she was getting scolded for it? She was getting yelled at for doing the right thing?

"Hey, you don't need to get so mad!" Umi spat back, losing her composure and normal calmness and trading it for a sharp tongue. "Why are you getting so angry anyways?!" Kotori rolled her eyes.

"Maybe because you're making a big deal out of absolutely nothing! It's not like I'm cheating on Eli because I'm spending time with you! Jeez, don't accuse me of something I didn't commit." Kotori spat, placing a hand on her hip. Umi's eyes narrowed at the girl. She was acting like a hormonal teenager.

In the brunette's defense, she was a hormonal teenager.

"I didn't accuse you of anything!" Umi retorted.

"Uh, yeah you did!"

"I merely reminded you of the fact that you _have a girlfriend!_ I didn't accuse you of anything!"

"Well you sort of practically were motioning towards it!" Kotori barked back, the headache growing massively. This was pointless. Why were they fighting anyways? "Whatever, I'm over this, let's go." Kotori said, key in hand as she opened the door and began to walk into the hallway. She could hear Umi snickering behind her.

"Oh, you're _over it._ " Umi was now mumbling under her breath, so Kotori couldn't really catch what the girl was saying, but she could tell it wasn't something that was positive.

Rolling her eyes, Kotori quickly tried the key on all of the doors, Umi hovering behind her. The brunette wished she could just escape the situation she was in. Why did everything she came in contact with always go to hell?

Thankfully she found a door and opened it, happy to get away from the Rose Red girl as they both spread out across the room, not even speaking to one another.

Kotori exhaled slowly as she looked around the classroom, settling on searching the desks since Umi had taken the teacher's desk and there weren't any cabinets in the room.

She searched through every single desk, hoping she would find something in a desk that _wasn't_ close to where Umi was searching. Unfortunately fate didn't seem to want to lend her a helping hand since she eventually found something in the _closest desk to Umi humanly possible._

 _How does Rin do this?_

Kotori's thoughts were quenched as her heart suddenly skipped a beat at the paper, or the group of papers, seated on the top of the desk.

"The will..." Kotori mumbled. She paused for a moment or two before she immediately leaned in closer to get a better look of what it said.

She skimmed through the words, looking for anything that involved the Takashi's, and she grinned when she finally resided on what she was looking for.

" _All of my earnings go to the Takashi family."_

Obviously it went into more detail anymore, but these words were enough to calm Kotori's racing thoughts. Before they suddenly began to race again.

 _How the hell could my grandfather do this?_ Kotori thought angrily, her fists curling around the papers, holding them so tightly that her knuckles began to turn white. Her father was a scumbag! He made a deal so that he would be extremely rich while he was living and then he would leave his family absolutely nothing! _This is bullshit!_

Umi searched in the desk, unbeknownst to the fact that Kotori had located the will and now was seething with rage. Obliviously she rummaged through all the different things, or lack thereof, hoping to find something of importance.

But what she did find was something she never expected.

 _Official Papers of Name Change_

 _Ryuuji Minami has requested a name change from Minami to Hoshizora._

That was all Umi had to read.

 _RIN'S FATHER AND KOTORI'S GRANDFATHER ARE THE SAME PERSON!_ Umi realized with a start, her body coursing with excitement. Filled with adrenaline she leaped up from the spot behind the desk, accidentally banging her head against it in the process.

"Ouch!" The Rose Red girl cried, rubbing her head painfully. But this didn't slow her down, no, because she dashed over to Kotori, the past fight totally slipping her mind.

"Holy hell look what I found Kotori...Kotori?" Umi was surprised to see the girl, tears trickling down her face as she clutched a multitude of papers in her hand. "What's wrong?" Umi asked worriedly, reaching over to grab one of Kotori's hands before the brunette pulled away.

"What happened to not holding hands _Umi?_ " Venom dripped from Kotori's voice, sending a shiver through the blue haired girls spine. She took a step back, throwing her hands up in the air defensively.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just want to know what's wrong." Umi spoke slowly and softly, not wanting to enrage the girl any further then she clearly already had.

Kotori, in a state of rage, flung the pieces of paper towards Umi. Instead of reaching her initial target, instead they fluttered to the floor, leaving Umi to pick them up to see what exactly Kotori was freaking out about.

"Oh, so you were right. I still don't understand what the problem is."

Umi regretted ever saying that.

Kotori curled her hands into fists yet again before facing Umi, the scariest look Umi had ever seen in the girls eyes, anger emanating from her very being. _Holy shit._

"What do you mean by that?! The problem is, my grandfathers a douche-bag who only cared about money!" Kotori cried out, tears falling down her cheeks and falling to the floor.

Umi gasped, and immediately tried to hide the paper she was holding, hoping Kotori would see it. Unfortunately, things didn't seem to go to plan as Kotori's eyes came in contact with the paper and she immediately snatched it out of the girls hand.

Umi didn't realize the girl could get any more angry, but clearly she was mistaken as the Lily White's body practically _shook with pure, unnatural anger._

"HE'S ALIVE! THAT SON OF A BITCH IS ALIVE! DOES HE EVEN KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE?!" Kotori screamed before continuing off into a fit of rage that Umi couldn't even begin to comprehend. The girl had flew pas the point of being consoled and Umi couldn't stop the pit of fear that was forming in her stomach.

"He ruined my mom's life! He ruined her life! She could have been so successful! She could have fulfilled her dream! And he took that way from her!" That was one of the only things Umi could understand through Kotori's long rant.

Wanting to calm the girl down, Umi cleared her throat and took a deep breath before speaking.

"But if he hadn't left, you wouldn't have been born!" Umi tried to reconcile, but obviously Umi should have known that was the wrong move.

Kotori turned to Umi slowly, fear escalating through the blue haired girl's body as she received one of the nastiest glares a person could receive. _God damn this is satanic!_

And before Umi knew it, Kotori was yelling at her. The Rose Red had become the new target, and even though she had no idea what exactly Kotori was even _talking about,_ it didn't make it any less terrifying.

 _Wait a minute. This is Kotori! I have no reason to be afraid of her!_

"DON'T TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON ME!" Umi's voice bellowed, immediately hushing Kotori who gasped. There was silence lingering in the room, both girls avoiding each others gaze.

"...I wish I was here with Eli." That stung.

That stung far more then anything Kotori had said previously. It had stung more then any pain Umi had ever experienced. It stung more then anything Umi was sure she would feel in the future.

And she was done.

She was done with keeping herself in check.

She was done with holding herself back.

She was done with being the level headed calm one.

She was done with Kotori.

She was done with being without Kotori.

During the silence, Kotori had made a mad dash for the door, but Umi was prepared. In a quick movement, before Kotori could even latch onto the door handle, Umi had shoved her against the door, keeping her their with her own physical strength.

Kotori had tried to resist, but wasn't half as strong as Umi was.

"Let me-"

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Umi screamed again, feeling her calmness and coolness slipping away, a feeling of pure euphoria filling the hole it left. Umi was still human. She could feel. She could speak her thoughts.

Kotori was now the one filled with fear as she gazed at the usual steady blue haired girl wide eyed.

"I'm sorry that all these bad things happened to you! I'm sorry your grandfathers a scumbag! I'm sorry that your mom is involved with all of this! But don't think you can get away with treating my like shit because you are having a rough time! And **especially** don't think I'm not allowed to say anything back because I can say whatever the hell I want!" Sonoda Umi was not breaking, she was not. Instead, she was building herself. Being what _she_ wanted to be. "Everybody goes through rough patches in life, and this is yours! And that must really fucking suck! But it'll happen to me too! It happens to everybody! And just think, what would it be like to be your _mother_ in this situation. You think you have it bad? You really think so?!" Kotori began to squirm, trying anything to get out of Umi's grasp but all of her efforts were futile, so she instead tried to be vocal.

"You just don't care Umi! You don't care at all!" Kotori just vocalized the first thoughts that would get to Umi. The first things that would get under her skin. She just had to _get away._

"I DON'T CARE? I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Umi blurted out, but for once it a long time, she didn't regret it. She was into far to back out now. "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU! I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU! I'LL ALWAYS BE IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Umi cried out, tears now trickling down her own cheeks.

Kotori looked at the girl in total shock, sobs slowly slipping out of her mouth as the tears began to flow faster. "NO YOU DON'T! YOU REJECTED ME!" Kotori reminded, finding her voice after a few seconds, finding her anger.

Umi gasped at the response, her mind rolling back to the day. That specific day when she had chosen what she should be over herself. The day she had rejected the confession from Kotori.

 _Umi walked alone to the Rose Red dormitory. It had been a really long school day, since she had been sick the last week and had to stay really late to catch up. All she wanted was a couple hours of sleep. That was all she wanted._

 _"_ _Umi!" The blue haired girl instantly recognized it as Kotori, and instead of groaning, she smiled._

 _Losing sleep was worth getting to see Kotori._

 _"_ _Hello Kotori." Umi replied, exhaling sharply when she turned to face the girl. She sure was beautiful. "What are you doing awake at this hour?" Umi asked, confusion clear in her voice._

 _That's when it happened._

 _Kotori began fidgeting nervously, and her feet were shuffling against the ground, and Umi took a deep breath. Something was going to happen._

 _"_ _Um...I saw you outside my window and thought it would be fun to surprise you." Kotori seemed to be retreating on whatever she was going to do initially, for she grinned widely, but Umi could tell it was strained._

 _"_ _Why are you lying to me Kotori?" Umi asked, taking a step towards her friend worriedly. The blue haired girl was shocked when Kotori took a step back._

 _"_ _I-I'm not." Kotori stuttered, silently cursing herself._

 _"_ _Kotori, tell me the truth." Umi pushed, taking another step towards the girl, who in turn took a step back. This process repeated itself a few times, with Kotori denying every single one of Umi's advances, before the truth finally spilled out._

 _"_ _I-I...I'm in love with you!" Kotori blurted out, gasping afterwards before covering her mouth with her hands, her face the darkest shade of red ever seen worn by the brunette._

 _Umi's eyes went wide at the sudden revelation, thousands of butterflies swarming around her stomach. They began to bubble into something Umi hadn't felt before, and it made her feel really warm, like she was standing next to a furnace. Her heart rate rapidly sped up, and she feared that if it raced any faster she would surely have a heart attack._

 _But appearances always came first._

 _That was what her mother had always taught her. Being gay would certainly be an object of disapproval that her mother would use to her advantages. It would be a piece of weaponry used to pierce through her soul._

 _Her mother wasn't a homophobe, per say, but was against anything the world itself was against. She had become a Christian because the majority of people in the world were Christian. She voted for something because the majority voted for it as well. She wore something because everybody else wore it._

 _Her mother would not approve._

 _Umi needed her mother to approve._

 _"_ _I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way."_

Umi's lip quivered at the memory as she watched Kotori continue to sob, her movements restricted by Umi's hold.

"I was an idiot Kotori. I didn't realize it then, but that is the decision I regret most in my life." Umi said slowly, her tone softer and light. She should have known by this point that Kotori wouldn't be consoled by this type of approach.

"IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER BECAUSE I'M DATING ELI!" Kotori continued to struggle. The brunette knew there was no escaping, but she couldn't help it.

"...But don't you love me too?" Umi continued to keep her tone soft as she hovered over Kotori, the girl refusing to meet the Rose Red's gaze as she squirmed around.

"NO I DON'T LOVE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Kotori screamed, tears streaming down her face, pooling together on the floor. Umi's tears soon joined them.

"But you do Kotori." Umi continued, still speaking softly, causing Kotori to struggle and squirm further as she continued to lash out in denial.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" Kotori sobbed. "YOU BROKE MY HEART! YOU BROKE ME UMI! I HATE YOU!" Kotori continued repeating the words over and over again, each time hitting Umi harder and harder.

After a few minutes Kotori's tone start dropping, her voice becoming less and less hateful. It lowered in loudness before it was almost hard to Umi's hearing, but Kotori was still muttering the same words over and over again.

Oh...wait. No she wasn't.

"You hate me, you hate me, you hate me, you hate me..." Kotori was now mumbling, her struggles ceasing while her sobs softened. The brunette sniffled. "Umi you should hate me. I-I just, I can't even believe...I dated your best friend, and I just freaked out at you when you haven't done anything wrong...And I..." Kotori stopped herself from continuing, sobs still escaping her lips as Umi's grip softened slightly. She was sure the brunette wouldn't try to escape now.

"It's okay. I did something bad to you as well." Umi cooed, removing one of hands so she could brush some hair behind Kotori's ear.

The movement alone sent electric waves through Kotori's body, causing her to exhale shakily. Umi still had so much control over her, and it was _awful and amazing_ at the same time.

"...I hate myself because I'm still in love with you. I hate myself because I have a girlfriend but I always think of you. I hate myself because I want to love you. I _need_ to." Kotori finished, looking down at the floor, not daring to meet Umi's gaze.

Now Umi was stuck at crossroads.

She could lean in and kiss Kotori, right here and now. But she was currently dating her, or what used to be, her best friend. Could Umi do that to Eli?

…

…

...No she couldn't...Right?

…

…

…

..Sonoda Umi deserved happiness.

And with that in mind, Umi leaned in and captured Kotori's lips softly, electricity shooting through her body as she felt the brunette kiss back slowly. Heat built in her stomach and filled her whole body, making it feel like she was lit on fire. But yet, it was pleasant. No, it wasn't just pleasant, it was _euphoric._

After a few moments Umi leaned back, panting heavily as she locked eyes with Kotori, who was doing the same. On the outside the situation might look so wrong to anybody else, but to Umi, it felt _so right._

And the smile painted across Kotori's face revealed she felt the same.

And maybe...Just maybe...

 _Everything will be alright._

 **THIS KAWAII AS HELL MOMENT BETTER MAKE UP FOR MY LACK OF UPDATES.**

 **Okay guys, I have to tell you all the truth. At first I hated writing this chapter because I had literally no inspiration that is was** ** _painful._** **But when I got into it, especially with the whole heated exchange between Kotori and Umi, it just got so hella awesome.**

 **Like come on guys, admit it, that was fucking awesome. Ha-ha, jk, I'm just hoping you guys like it as much as I liked writing it.**

 **Anyways, apologies for the lack of updates. As I said before, I just wasn't feeling to inspired, I even posted a oneshot hoping that my inspiration would come back.**

 **Speaking of that, go check out the funny oneshot I just posted! (LOL SHAMELESS SELF ADVERTISEMENT)**

 **Anyways, I just have to say, I'm absolutely amazed that we have gotten 90 reviews! 90 FUCKING REVIEWS! That's crazy!**

 **I'm going to respond to reviews next chapter because It's getting late where I'm at, but let's hope for...100 Reviews next chapter?! That would be amazing and very much appreciated!**

 **Hoping you liked this chapter! What you guys feel is what's most important!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sonoda Umi**

 **Minami Kotori**

 **Toujou Nozomi**

 **Ayase Eli**

 **Nishikino Maki**

 **Yazawa Nico**

 **Whatever Hanayo's fucking last name is**

 **Kousaka Honoka**

 **And last but not least,**

 **Hoshizora Rin**

…

…

…

 **A ShawtyItEli featured film**

 **After a month of hiatus and shitty excuses**

 **We**

 **Are**

 **Back!**

 **THANK GOD!**

Rin watched tiredly at the monitor, chewing on whatever was in the chip bag. If it was a chip bag. It was so dark that Rin couldn't see anything, and Honoka had hidden the flashlight somewhere. She was also too lazy to get off and flick off the lights.

Speaking of Honoka. The girl was the worst partner in crime ever-well, she crashed later then useless Hanayo. She was lucky she was cute!-even after she rambled on about how awesome she was. Now all Rin had accompanying her was the thudding in her head from the lack of sleep and the six idiots she was currently watching through a carefully calculated camera system.

The track star decided she had had enough fun watching Umi and Kotori mess about and clicked a sub screen within the computer monitor, switching the cameras to where Eli and Nozomi were. This should be interesting. Their relationship was more on rocks then the others.

It was odd. They were constantly swapping between suddenly being best friends to awkward acquaintances. It was like they were grasping for straws, trying to find anything to reignite _whatever_ their relationship was.

Intrigued, Rin leaned back in her chair. Unfortunately, since Honoka was cheaper then the crappy Christmas present she got for Rin-the ginger recalled it was something like an elf figurine that had been colored wrong and was ultimately a ugly puke looking color instead of green-the cameras had no audio and she could only learn through the power of sight.

"God I'm flawless aren't I?" Rin wondered to herself with a heavy amused tone. She placed another chip in her mouth, and bit into it, until she realized it was soft and squishy instead of crisp like everything else. Immediately she spat it out, downing a bottle of water before she began spastically coughing. "What the hell?!"

"Did you get in?" Nozomi asked patiently, watching with interest as Eli typed intensely. The old laptop had been sitting in the one classroom that was open to them, and had a security code blocking access. Immediately the violet haired girl assumed that Rin knew the password because knowing the ginger she wouldn't have charged the laptop, placed it in the school, and then password locked it if it was of no value.

So the girls had searched their area clean for anything that would involve the school, but they had run dry pretty quickly. Apparently, all the information for their area was contained in that one laptop. And they had to figure out the password before the battery died or they'd be stuck without a lead.

Eli grunted, and then shook her head afterwards, signaling that she had not in fact cracked the code. Nozomi sighed, feeling useless as Eli continued to type into the computer. She felt her eyes wander, identifying the different features of the blond.

Nozomi hadn't ever gotten a real good look at Eli in the past year, since their fallout. After the years her features had hardened, matured per se. Her blue eyes certainly hadn't softened, sharpened instead, and her body was more muscular and toned. The Rose Red rep certainly was still the hard worker Nozomi had formed a bond with.

The Lily White inwardly sighed. Their relationship was an oddity, scientists would probably find it an interesting thing to study. Nozomi was well aware of the fact that Eli was _in love with her._ And she had come to terms that she _was_ in love with Eli. Was she still?

...Most probably.

But somethings needed to be put to rest. Nozomi had been struggling with the backlash of their strained relationship and it had caused nothing but trouble for the both of them. Maybe they'd be better off cutting off ties, just leaving each other. Seeing each other for years, resenting each other, surely wasn't healthy. Or good for the mind and soul.

If only it was that easy.

Why did Eli have to be so lovable?

"I'm going to go check for the password." Nozomi concluded, sitting up from the table she was currently sitting at. Sitting around and eyeing Eli for the rest of her days clearly wasn't helping anyone, or her mental state, so she decided to distract herself with something that would be, actually, beneficial.

As she went to walk out of the classroom-she assumed Eli was to enveloped in her computer skills that she hadn't noticed the violet haired girl left-she heard another chair scratch against the floor.

"Wait for me!" Eli called after her, jogging to catch up. Nozomi sighed. There was no escaping with this girl.

Nozomi turned around, putting on her best Maki face as she looked at the quickly approaching Rose.

"You can stay Eli. It would probably be useful if you tried to continue to hack in. I'm just going to look for passwords." Nozomi brushed off, keeping her breathing and movement to a normality that it must have looked fake. Eli merely arched an eyebrow, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

"What? It's dark out there, we would be better off going together." Eli countered, fidgeting around in her jean pockets. At first Nozomi wondered if Eli was afraid of being alone in the dark, but surely the girl had ditched that fear a while ago. Plus, the laptop screen was fairly bright, and illuminated the room rather well. Plus, Eli didn't have a fear of being alone, Nozomi knew that for fact. The girl was cooped up in the Rose Red council room all the time.

"It's fine Eli. Really." Nozomi pushed, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. Eli frowned. She didn't have to hear it to know it was there.

"What's up? I didn't mean to annoy you. I just thought it would be better if we explored together." Eli said, unsure of what the violet haired girl's motives were exactly. "You don't need to get mad."

"I'm not mad Eli." Nozomi said firmly, coughing afterwards to contain her composure. "I mean..." Nozomi trailed off, running out of excuses.

Eli frowned for a second time, and then ran a shaky hand through her hair. She could tell when she wasn't needed.

"Okay." Eli said simply, walking back over to the laptop, feeling a little bit off put. Well, she did deserve it. "But be careful okay. And if anything happens yell. I'll be there in an instant." Eli grinned sending a wave of warmness soaring through Nozomi's body. She hadn't had one of those smiles aimed at her in a while.

"Y-Yeah." Nozomi cleared her throat, mentally berating herself for losing her composure so quickly in front of the blond. "Yeah. Yell if you need me to, Elicchi...Eli..." Nozomi mumbled the names to herself, wondering what exactly to call the girl. She decided not to say anything at all, and vouched instead to wave to the blond before she left the room.

Eli shook her head as she watched Nozomi leave. She always masked her feelings and never told anyone her personal look on things. Normally it was rather easy for Eli to figure out what exactly the girl was thinking-well, when she wasn't _oblivious_ to it of course-but that was back when they were best friends. Now, things were different.

The Rose sighed and focused back on the electronic in front of her. She was having quite a bit of difficulty hacking in, whoever programmed the firewall was clearly a talented person. The blond quickly realized that there was no way that with just her knowledge alone they would be cracking into the computer anytime soon.

She rose from her seat to stretch for a bit. Eli berated for herself for not following after Nozomi. She knew she had to give the girl some space, but they really needed to find the password. Plus, a little time with Nozomi didn't hurt anybody.

At this point she wondered how Kotori was doing. Eli knew that Umi would do a good job of protecting the girl, of course, but the Rose couldn't help but feel a little worried. Not for Kotori's safety, of course, but what would happen to her mind being contained in a small area with Umi for a few hours.

And of course, there was the whole thing with her mother being one of the key things of the dark side of Otonokizaka.

Eli also felt a little bit of uneasiness brew in her gut. Kotori and Umi were still in _love with one another_ , so whose to say nothing would happen? In all truth, Eli wouldn't blame Kotori, but it would still hurt. Like hell.

Maybe she deserved it. Maybe this was what Umi was feeling for the past few months. Maybe Eli was just a really bad person.

No, Eli was a good person. She just made a couple bad mistakes as of recent and she truly regretted them. Of course, regretting them and pondering about them wasn't going to solve them.

And that led her in a full circle back to Nozomi. That was the core of her problem, good Nozomi. She had done nothing wrong through this whole thing, it had all been Eli's fault. And at this point, all Eli wanted was for Nozomi to be happy. Even if that was with Eli out of her life.

The representative slammed her fist against the wall in frustration, surprising herself at the sudden act of anger. Now her knuckles swelled and there was a small hole in the wall of the old Otonokizaka. That surely didn't help anything.

"Eli?" A voice called out. It was hard to Eli's hearing since it was rather quiet and far away, but the girl could immediately tell that it was Nozomi.

"Don't worry, that was me!" Eli yelled back, mentally kicking herself for, most likely, startling Nozomi. "Sorry!"

"It's okay! Just worried me." Eli smiled at this comment, and sat back in her chair with contentment, deciding to give cracking the firewall another go. She had to get out of this school, not just for herself, but for Nozomi as well. Plus, she did want to have a little chat with Rin...

After a few minutes-or maybe an hour, Eli wasn't sure-the blond was finally able to break through the cryptic computer and found herself at the home scream. She leaped up, elated.

"Nozomi! I'm in!" Eli yelled out, excitement coursing through her veins. This was their one way ticket out of this school. Well, hopefully.

The blond waited a few moments for a response, an eerie feeling bubbling in her stomach when she didn't hear a response. Surely, Nozomi had heard her. So then why hasn't she responded?

"Nozomi!" Eli called out, quite a bit louder this time around. Still, there was no response, and the bubbling feeling quickly escalated to a sharp feeling that almost made Eli keel over. Now she was scared.

Immediately she darted out of the room, all common thought fleeting as she began scrambling down the hallway in a haphazardly fashion. She tried all the doors, nearly tumbling into one of them, her breathing becoming erratic when she couldn't find Nozomi.

"Thank God." Eli exhaled slowly when she noticed Nozomi, passed out in one of the desks in a classroom. She panted heavily, exhausted from the minutes of running as she walked over to the sleeping Lily. "You scared me."

Of course, she knew Nozomi couldn't hear her, but that didn't mean Eli had been any less terrifying. She knew Rin most likely wouldn't pull anything too drastic, but they were in an abandoned school in the middle of the night. Anything could have happened.

She hovered over Nozomi, double checking if the girl was okay first before doing anything. Eli sighed, patting the girl on the head. It was mostly likely reassurance to see if the girl was really there or not.

Deciding she didn't really want to wake the girl up, Eli positioned herself so that she could scoop up Nozomi rather easily and looped the girls legs around her waist so that they were now in a piggyback position. The Rose was thankful that Nozomi was so light.

She worked her way back to the classroom, setting Nozomi into the desk that had the laptop seated on it. Eli leaned over the girl so she could get a look at the computer, deciding to dive into it herself while Nozomi got some rest. The girl must have been tuckered out.

The screen saver was just a normal one, something with a flurry of colors. There were apps that were for the Internet-but obviously there was no WiFi-and a few other things that weren't of importance.

The blond moved the mouse and clicked on a file, opening up a sub screen that contained three different folders. One of them read: Nico and Maki. A second one read: Umi and Kotori. The last one read: You.

Eli assumed that the 'you' was talking about her and Nozomi, and decided to click on the other two pairings folders. Searching through their files revealed what the others had learned in their own parts of the schools. So why was this information being made known to Eli and Nozomi?

"So Kotori's grandfather and Rin's dad are the same person...?" Eli realized after she had dug through Kotori and Umi's files. She had learned a few interesting things, like the depth of the involvement of the Takashi's and the connection between them and the Minami's. Also the Hoshizora's were involved, but not to the same extent of the others.

There were a few other interesting parts, including two parts of a letter. The first part was in Maki and Nico's section while the second part was in Umi and Kotori's section. Eli dragged those two files to the desktop, deducing that they would be rather important for later.

She then finally decided to divulge into her own files, only finding two different documents. One of them being the third part of the letter, which she dragged to the desktop for later reading, and the second being a letter from the devil herself.

 _To Eli (Well, and Nozomi I suppose),_

 _As you can see, I have given you full access to the files both NicoMaki and KotoUmi have acquired. Lol I know I gave them ship names. I'm sort of a genius._

 _Anyways, you may be wondering why this is happening. It' s because I have generously given you the job of sorting out all the information and solving the mystery of good old Otonokizaka! But by this point in time, everything should be becoming rather clear, unless you're a moron. But I am pretty sure you're the smartest next to everyone. Well, excluding Umi, but I thought it would be a poor decision to have the information open to Kotori as well._

 _Now, hurry up and solve the damn puzzle so we can all go home and eat icecream! Plus, join the Tulips or you'll go to hell. By the way, that isn't confirmed by Jesus Christ so that isn't fact._

 _FUUUUUUUUUCK! ...Just wanted to type that ;P._

 _From Rin!_

Eli sighed, closing the useless document as she began reevaluating all the different files, trying to crack the mystery of Otonokizaka. It was a whirlwind of information that was too much for her overclocked brain, but she would have to get to it if she wanted to get out of this devil school.

After an hour or so of looking through information she felt Nozomi shift around in her sleep, and she decided that by this point in time it would be good to wake the girl up. Two brains were better then one.

"Hey, Nozomi?" Eli said quietly, not wanting to disturb the girl too much as she began to shake her shoulders gently. "Hey Nozomi?" She repeated, smiling when Nozomi's eyelids slowly began to open.

"Elicchi? Where are we?" Nozomi asked, half-asleep as she slowly sat up in her chair, rubbing her eyes. Eli couldn't hold back her laughter at the cute sight of Nozomi waking up after the nap. Even if that meant she had been left to do the work all by herself for a damn hour.

"In the haunted school!" Eli said, trying to spooky, as she began making ghost noises. Nozomi giggled lightly at the girls strange antics, shaking her head as her eyes suddenly stung from the brightness of the computer screen in front of her.

"Ouch!" She cried quietly, and Eli quickly moved to turn down the brightness a few notches.

"Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to hurt you." Eli apologized feeling a tinge of guilt. But it was also rather funny at the same time as well.

"It's okay. Now, what's going on exactly?" The Rose Red explained what happened while Nozomi was out, along with the rundown of what exactly was going on at Otonokizaka involving the Takashi's and Minami's, along with the surprise involvement of the Hoshizora's.

"Wow, this is crazy." Nozomi mumbled, stunned as she looked over the new documents Eli was showing her. "Principal Minami. It's hard to believe that she's a key part of this." Nozomi admitted, leaning back in her chair, accidentally brushing against Eli. A flush of warmness flowed through her, and she silently prayed that Eli would move since _she was now frozen_ , but unfortunately the girl didn't shift at all. She was most likely oblivious to it anyways.

"Yeah, I know right." Eli admitted, her cheeks warm from Nozomi being pressed against her. Thank God for the darkness or she would've been caught in an instant. "And here's the thing, there's more. Take a look at this."

 _Dear Haruka,_

 _I know you are planning on getting an abortion. And I know you are going through one of the hardest phases of your life, with that being the death of your father and husband. I am strongly advising you that it is a poor decision if you want to go into business._

 _People are bound to find out and that is bad for appearances. One wrong mistake can never be repented for in the world of business and media. Now, I hear that you no longer want to go into business._

 _I would not blame you for that. But, I have an offer that I think you would find quite enticing for the situation you are in. As you know, your father and I were good, good friends. We were also business partners, he funded the majority of the school while I was principal. Now that I have stepped down, I have a proposition that will surely be life changing._

 _Now that Otonokizaka has a new principal, I have been cut off from earning anything from the school involving sponsor ships and such. That does not amuse me, no not at all, and it seems clear that the new principal wants nothing to do with me._

 _So, I was thinking, if I found a way to eliminate principal, would you step up in her stead?_

 _This may come as a surprise to you, but after receiving the forefront of your fathers money, I can see if you want nothing to do with me. But your wants do not matter at this point in time for you need to start making money or else your family line will disappear. Now I don't mean to be the rain cloud on your sunshine, but your father was the main supplier for your family's money. He's...unfortunately...gone now and it is most likely up to you to sustain the needs of the rest of your family._

 _I will pay you extremely well, more then your father every received, and you will surely have enough money to fulfill all of your needs and wants. I will also be sure to help you through the birth of your child and pay for the bills._

 _You were such a promising student Haruka and I had a pleasure working with you. And you must know that I would never bullshit you by this point in time. So, in a way, isn't this benefiting you far more then it is benefiting me? I mean, I already have plenty of money, but I thought that I owed you for being such a good student._

 _The choice is yours._

 _Sincerely, Takashi Amy_

 _Also known as_

 _Principal Takashi_

"So let me get this straight." Nozomi began. She then began to ask Eli different questions on the situation, both of them trying to connect the dots between the different files stored on the computer.

After a few hours, they both realized they had cracked the code, and everything began to start making sense.

"I think we got it." Eli said, tiredness evident in her voice. If she was more energetic, surely she would've been more enthusiastic, but she was too exhausted to move.

"Yeah, but now what? We don't have a key or anything." Nozomi reminded the girl, who frowned. Now they had no leads on where exactly to go, and probably would be stuck searching for more keys.

"HEY YO! THING ONE AND THING TWO! AND YES I'M TALKING TO YOU TWO, NOZOMI AND ELI!" Rin's voice boomed over an intercom, immediately startling the two girls, causing Nozomi to nearly fall off of her chair. "THERE'S A CLOSET IN THE ROOM YOU'RE IN THAT HAS A LADDER THAT'LL TAKE YOU TO THE ROOF. THAT IS ALL. CONVIENCE IS GREAT, ISN'T IT?" And with that blaring announcement, Rin was gone, leaving the two girls in silence as they covered their ears.

After testing if Rin was really gone, Eli stopped cupping her ears and approached the closet, opening the door to in fact reveal a ladder. She motion for Nozomi to follow, letting the violet haired girl go first and then followed afterwards.

Thankfully the ladder climb had been rather uneventful, and the two found themselves on the roof of Otonokizaka. The wind was rather chilly due to the lateness of the day, and Eli immediately felt the coldness nipping at her skin.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Nozomi shivering, and immediately wrapped a comforting hand around the girl, watching as the Lily tensed up at the touch.

"Don't worry, I'm not pulling anything funny. You just looked cold." Eli admitted, causing Nozomi to loosen slightly. The blond let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, thankful that the violet haired girl hasn't ripped away.

Eli was shocked when she didn't notice Rin standing a few feet away from her, chewing on a bag of chips that didn't look to delectable.

"Rin!" Eli yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!" Eli wasn't too sure what she meant by the vague question, but all she knew was that she was not too happy with the track star.

Rin continued chewing, a blank expression on her face. "Just eating chips. How about you?"

"Oh, I don't know...Maybe trying to escape an abandoned school!" Eli screamed, Nozomi nodding along with her. The violet haired girl was far more calm in comparison, though.

"Technically," Rin paused to bite into another chip. "You're out of the school. But, I can see where you're coming from. So I _sincerely apologize from my heart._ " Rin looked gracefully up into the sky and put one her of hands over her own heart, snorting afterwards. "Just kidding. But seriously, kudos to you guys for getting out of that hellhole." Rin finished, still chewing obnoxiously.

"What do we do now?" Nozomi asked before Eli could spew out something like threats or move on the offensive. Rin shrugged, licking her fingertips.

"We wait until the others show up. Oh yeah, and don't do anything funny. I got Hanayo and Honoka perched in trees armed with BB guns. And don't ask how long that took. Jesus Christ..." Rin trailed off, her eyes flickering about as if she was trying to check if the two were still in their posts. "Yeah, you two moved rather quickly, so I had to get their asses in gear. Along with my own, I'm fucking exhausted." Another chip found its way into Rin's mouth.

"Rin you nasty little bitch!" A voice yelled. Obviously, it was Nico, since nobody else had the vulgarity to say something like that. She had come up from another ladder, Maki in tow, panting behind the short girl. "I'm going to kill you!" Nico threatened, preparing to dart over when she was stopped by Maki.

"Are you stupid? She just said she's got Honoka and Hanayo with guns!" Maki reminded the girl.

"Well, they're not real guns..." Rin muttered to herself, taking another bite of a chip.

"Have you seen those two? They probably have god awful shots." Nico huffed, crossing her hands over one another in defeat.

"Hey I heard that!" A voice cried out from the trees, and immediately everybody turned their heads to look over.

"Honoka shut up!" Rin yelled before she turned back to the other girls. "Ignore that. Anyways, Maki and Nico, how nice of you two to join the party. I guess that Umi and Kotori are the only ones left. Fat-asses."

The wind blew through the group, causing Nico to shiver slightly. Her brain finally registered the frosty night air that pierced her cheeks, causing them to begin to redden slightly.

"Shit it's cold." Nico mumbled, positioning herself behind Maki so that the wind wouldn't blow so harshly against her. Maki rolled her eyes, but went along with it, moving every so slightly so that she would be blocking Nico completely. "Thanks Maki-chan!"

"Yeah whatever..." Maki averted her eyes, stuffing her hands into her pockets. She looked up when she realized everybody was looking at them. "W-What is it?!"

"Well isn't that fucking cute." Rin said with an amused tone. "You guys really are a cute couple though. I was betting that you two would hook up first. Unfortunately the people I was betting with fell asleep pretty quickly." The ginger said the last part with a bitter tone, clearly talking about Honoka and Hanayo.

Maki ignored the ginger, turning her head slightly to get a peek at Nico. The girl was currently involved in a deep mouthing and mental conversation with Nozomi, the two best friends asking each other how everything went. This made the redhead's mind flutter to Umi, hoping the girl would show up sooner or later.

"Ah! Here they are! Praise be!" Rin exclaimed at the sight of blue hair emerging from one of the ladders, Kotori following close behind. Maki exhaled at the sight of her best friend, happy that she was okay.

The two locked eyes for a moment, Umi grinning widely at the redhead, Maki nodding back in response. Something good had happened, obviously.

And then Umi shook her head, causing Maki to avert her eyes and blush. Her indifference is what usually caused Umi to catch on.

Though things obviously were a little weird. An awkward air hovered about with the reuniting of the six girls. Kotori was looking off into the distance while Eli struggled to make eye contact with her, not wanting to gain too much attention from anybody else. Unfortunately, that ended up backfiring instead.

"Well this is awkward." Rin butted in, of course throwing in her two cents as she bit into another chip. "Seems like we have a lot to go through until it's dawn. So Eli, would you like to start us off? What really is going on at good old Otonokizaka? The school for Talented Youth."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! Just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed and followed/favorited! Every single one is appreciated (seriously, I read everyone single one like five hundred times) and it makes my stomach feel all warm bubbly. Its like the feeling you get when you eat a really good pizza pop :D**

 **Enough about my favorite food choices! Here goes Chapter 16! Hold your horses**

 **AUTHOR NOTE: OKAY GUYS! I POSTED THE CHAPTER AND SOME REALLY WEIRD SHIT HAPPENED AND I HAD TO GO BACK AND REWRITE THE CHAPTER. IT WAS FUCKING HELL. IF THERE ARE THINGS LIKE: P/ OR SOME WEIRD SHIT LIKE THAT JUST PLEASE IGNORE IT AND BEAR WITH ME. NOW PLEASE ENJOY THE STORY :d**

 **AUTHOR NOTE 2: I SAT DOWN TO READ THIS CHAPTER AND IT FUCKING HAPPENED AGAIN! HOLY SHIT MY LIFE SUCKS! THERE WERE A SHIT TON OF SPELLING ERRORS SO NOW I HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN AND RE-READ IT. I LOVE MY LIFE. I LOVE YOU GUYS TOO. BE HAPPY IN MY STEAD.**

 _You walked down the dark hallways of the abandoned warehouse, two guys in black suits on your left and right. Maybe this wasn't your best idea ever. All you wanted to do was read a fan-fiction about a bunch of girls who sang in a group! They couldn't contain you here against your will! Where the hell was ShawtyItEli anyways?_

 _"We're almost there." You weren't sure which one of the bodyguards said that, but it wasn't like it was of any importance. You wanted to make a mad dash, but unfortunately you had tried that already and had easily been caught. Now you were walking past old boxes and different containers that had different workers huddled all around them. What exactly was going on here?_

 _After a few more minutes of silence you arrived at a large wooden door and suddenly the two bodyguards had disappeared, leaving you to your own devices. Your brain told you that now was the time to make your way out of there, but something was beyond that door. And it intrigued you._

 _Exhaling slowly, you moved your right hand towards the door, uneasily setting it on the doorknob. With a surge of courage, you forced it open, your eyes stinging from the sudden bright lights that hit you right in the face._

 _The room was rather small, with a large wooden desk and a few cabinets, but that was about it. In the middle of the room somebody sat in a lounge chair beyond the wooden desk, absentmindedly staring away from you so you couldn't catch a good look at their face. There was another chair across from the person, so you decided to sit in it and get comfortable._

 _"Ah, you're finally here." A voice said, coming from the person in the chair. It sounded oddly familiar to you, and your mind was put to rest when the person spun around in the chair._

 _"My name is the Rin-Father. I would expect that you address me as that." Rin said, a cat in her lap. She petted it slowly and it sent shivers down your spine. She was currently adorned in a black tuxedo._

 _You tried to make a noise, but nothing came out. What exactly is going on here? That was all you could wonder as Rin just stared at you with an amused look._

 _"What? No English?" Rin asked with a smirk. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes. You knew this character. You had read the story._

 _"What do you want? I want to continue with the story." You retorted, quickly becoming frustrated with the ginger's overused antics. Rin chuckled lightly, moving to lean back in her chair, keeping her eyes on the orange cat in her lap._

 _"Ah. You're kind of like Nico, aren't you? Or maybe you're just required to say the text on the screen. I mean, it's not like you have any choice. Technically, you aren't even meeting me right now; I'm just a figment of somebodies imagination. This somebody brought me to life and painted me a picture. Too bad my lifetime only lasts a couple thousand words while yours lasts for years." A sad smile now adorned Rin's face as waves of confusion flurried through your body._

 _Rin then began laughing with a bitter tone. "I don't understand humans. They always say how they wish they lived in our worlds. They want to live with all the Pokémon, and they want to have magic, and they want to have all sorts of mystical things. But we are nothing more than artwork. We are just a momentary piece of the world that will vanish when everyone becomes bored of us." Rin stood up from her chair, setting the orange cat back down on the lounge chair. Your eyes watched her as she walked over to the wall, looking at a picture frame that held a picture of the Love Live girls._

 _"Love Live. It's about a group of girls who sing and dance. I am not a part of that, am I?" You weren't sure if the question was aimed at you or if she was just rambling to herself. "Of course, people would counter by saying: "Rin, of course you are! You're one of the main girls!' But that's not me. I'm Rin, that's another Rin. She likes meowing and saying crazy things. In many ways, we are alike, in most ways, we are vastly different." Rin paused, swallowing loudly as she turned around to face you._

 _"But she will be more...memorial, shall I say? Only the people who read this story will get to know me. Everyone who watched Love Live will know the Rin who was. I am the Rin who was, as well. But soon, when this story is over, I will no longer be. All that is there for me are the words that the author wrote for me."_

 _By this point you were very confused. The cryptic wording and the hypothetical speaking of the crooked Rin Hoshizora was starting to get to you. Who were you? What were you doing with your life? While Rin, a fake character that you were somehow communicating with, only had what was written for her, you had a path to choose. You knew what to do._

 _"Even this now, the author is writing this. Our fates have been intertwined through the author's writing, not my own. I have no choice in the matter, and yet I do, because her words are who I am. Her descriptions are my character. The talents she gave me defines who I am. Does that mean I got to choose my life or does that mean my choices are limited?" Rin asked, turning to face you finally, a solemn expression on her face._

 _You couldn't help but feel a sad pit form in your stomach. You would keep living, eventually you would forget about Love Live, but Rin and all the other girls would be stuck here. Wasting away while only a few people caught glimpse of them._

 _"But wait," Rin looked away again, back to the picture. "I'm not even human. I can't even feel. This is all done by the author. What is she doing, I wonder? Why is she writing this? To what avail?" Rin moved to sit back in her chair, picking up the orange cat and placing it back on her knees. "It was a pleasure to meet you, reader. You need to get back to the story, it's coming to a close."_

 _Before you could even say anything, the world turned white, the last thing you saw was Rin's sad smile while all the Love Live girls appeared around her._

"Well this is awkward." Rin butted in, of course throwing in her two cents as she bit into another chip. "Seems like we have a lot to go through until it's dawn. So Eli, would you like to start us off? What really is going on at good old Otonokizaka? The school for Talented Youth." Eli looked at Rin, not wanting to explain the situation, but knowing that there wasn't much a way out until she said anything.

"Otonokizaka Academy." Eli began, keeping her eyes plastered on Rin on the whole time as if she was some type of spell check. "A school beginning far before we were born. In one point in time, Amy Takashi was principal of the school. But, due to the underwhelming popularity and low income, she needed to move fast before the school shut down completely. And at that rate, it was going to be soon." Another gust of wind blew through the group, picking up Eli's ponytail in the updraft and moving it slightly before it fell back into place.

"So, as desperate as she was, she reached out to a man of the name Ryuuji Minami. A brilliant man, by all means. He had begun a hotel business that quickly became popular and soon he had struck at rich, making monumental deals with different corporations and bringing them to success along with him. And he had complied, bringing Otonokizaka to riches in just a small amount of time." Eli looked around the area, seeing everyone's eyes glued on her in interest.

"But suddenly, Ryuuji Minami was murdered! And yet, he had a will already prepared, issuing that all of his earnings go to the Takashi family." Nico gasped loudly from where she stood behind Maki, clutching onto the girl's shirt as she shivered in the cold. Maki blushed fiercely, forcing the warmth downwards so she could pay attention to what Eli was saying. "But had Ryuuji Minami really died? I mean, murder, it wasn't really unlikely. He was an extraordinarily rich man who had surely stepped on plenty toes to get where he was, so he most likely had plenty of enemies." Eli focused her gaze on Rin, who had an unruly smirk on her face as she continued to eat her chips. "But that certainly did not happen. Right, Rin?" Rin held her poker face, continuing to indulge in her chips, not letting Eli win anything over her.

"Wait, so what happened next?" Nico asked, her and Maki being mostly out of the loop for how Ryuuji Minami fit into the story. The redhead nodded behind her, pressing for Eli to move forward in her story.

"What really happened was that Ryuuji Minami had done something so awful that it could ruin his whole business. He cheated on his wife and slept with what eventually was going to be Rin's mother." The room went silent as all heads turned towards Rin. Even Kotori and Umi hadn't heard of that part, neither had Nozomi.

"How did you come to that conclusion Elicchi?" Nozomi wondered, confused on how she had been left out of the source of the information.

"Guys, it's simple really. We all knew, well next to Nico and Maki, that Ryuuji was Rin's father. He changed his name and erased all sources of his legal ties with the Minami's, wrote his will, faked his death, and then married Rin's mother after he was informed a child would be born. Sleeping around surely would be the end of his business and his broken marriage with his old wife, so if he changed his identity completely, he would be well off." Eli explained, people nodding in agreement.

"Wait, so my grandfather and Rin's father are the same person." Kotori restated, even though she already knew the answer. Maybe it was a last ditch effort to see if it was really true. Rin nodded, still chewing her bag of chips.

"I know right? Fucking gross. But I guess that makes us sisters...in a way." Rin laughed, but a horrified expression took Kotori's face instead. This caused the ginger to frown, so she focused back on her chips.

"And if he left all his money to the Takashi's, they wouldn't be upset with his leaving, and there would be uproar with his family. Surely, they would not want to find a man who they now hated so much? This covered his tracks completely, and now he lived under the identity of Ryuuji Hoshizora, never to be found again."

"Of course, that couldn't be the end of our story. Amy Takashi was still unsatisfied, even though she had inherited billions of dollars and had enough money to sustain her lifeline for a long time. So when Haruka Minami was going through a depression, with the death of both her husband and grandfather, Amy used the time to use all of Haruka's pent up rage and agony against her. This created the new Otonokizaka, where we would all find ourselves one day."

"And now Takashi's are planted all over the world, searching for new targets, all on a money high agenda that is surely not going to change anytime soon." Eli finished, licking her lips. Everyone was silent as the digested the whole situation, overwhelmed by how much they learned one December night.

Suddenly Rin began clapping loudly, dropping her bag of chips onto the floor, the contents spilling out onto the roof. "Well done Ayase Eli, you've solved the mystery of Otonokizaka. I also have to give you five applause for getting through it as well, so bravo to you." Nobody replied, too awestruck to say a thing, until Kotori took a step forward.

"Wait a minute, what was the whole point of this? To learn some dark mystery about the school? How does this benefit you in any way?" Kotori asked in confusion, a tinge of anger in her voice. It made sense; her family name was being heavily shamed right in front of her own eyes. Her grandfather was not what she was told he was.

"Duh, because now I have the evidence to kick Haruka Minami right out of this school and set it on a proper course." Rin snorted.

"What?! No, you can't do that Rin!" Kotori cried out, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. Umi placed both of her hands on the girl's shoulders, trying to calm her down before she exploded again. She was way too emotionally overclocked and needed some rest.

"Oh quit crying Goldilocks I wasn't finished." Rin mumbled, kicking her chip bag to the side. "Listen, I'm not going to be taking your mom's position away from you anytime soon, but only if..." The track star trailed off, a devious expression on her face.

"Only if what?" Maki asked, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. Rin smirked.

"You guys join the Tulips, of course." Rin laughed at the girl's blank expressions, none of them wanting to move in chance that somebody else would speak out. All of their minds reeled. They really should have expected this of course. And now, there really was no way out, or Kotori's mom would lose her job.

Suddenly, a gun shot was fired off, sounding a loud noise through the silent night air. Everybody gasped as a small pellet broke through the cold air, hitting Rin right in the thigh.

"FUCK!" Immediately she keeled over, clutching her thigh in pain. "WHAT THE HELL? WHO SHOT THAT?" Rin cried out, her face contorting in pain as everyone watched from a small distance, surprised at the turn of events.

"It was Hanayo!" A voice cried from the trees, instantly being recognizable of Honoka's own voice.

"What? Honoka-chan don't blame this on me!" Hanayo cried, praying that Rin wouldn't blame her for this one. It had been Honoka who had shot the gun, on accident of course.

"HONOKA I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" Rin screamed, slowly rising from the ground, her teeth gritting in pain when her foot made contact with the ground. Her thigh was killing her at this point. "Now go make yourself useful and open the doors of this school so we can get out of her! I'm goddamn exhausted!" Hanayo and Honoka instantly chirped in response, climbing off of the trees they were currently hiding in. They needed to have Rin happy with them or else they were screwed.

"...So can we go now?" It was Umi who spoke up this time, still unsure of the whole situation that had quickly changed from intense and serious to awkward. Rin was still seething in pain, so the blunette decided to lead the pack out of the school, leaving Rin on the roof. They asked the girl if she wanted any help, but she had just made some weird growling noise at them, so they decided just to leave.

The six girls walked through the snowy grounds of Otonokizaka, thankful to be out of the old school. Honoka and Hanayo had let them out, and then had quickly scrambled inside to go get Rin.

There was complete and utter silence. Nobody made no move to speak, the events of the night still fresh in their mind as they could feel nothing but the grabbing feeling of sleep. They needed to sleep soon, was what their bodies were telling them.

Nobody wished goodnight as they all headed into their dorms. Nobody wished farewell. Nobody acknowledged the new relationships and the broken ones. Nobody wondered about where Ryuuji Hoshizora could be at this time. Nobody wondered about who Haruka Minami really was. Nobody wondered about the Takashi's and what their next money ploy was. Nobody cared. They were too tired.

One by one they all collapsed into their own beds, kissing the night goodbye and eagerly welcoming the soft touch of sleep. Their heads were clear as they each followed into the world of their subconscious, being led by nothing but an inkling of what really resided in the human mind. Not like anybody cared, though. Nobody did.

Rin watched as Honoka passed out in her bed, Hanayo lying asleep beside her. Even though the two girls had slept the whole entire time somehow they had convinced Rin that they were just as physically and mentally exhausted as her. The excuses had been total bullshit, but Rin decided to be nice and let them sleep. They had grabbed ice for her thigh. At least they were moderately useful.

She moved slowly back into her own room, closing the door behind her. She would have to shut down all of the equipment she used to watch the six girls before morning when everyone was awake. She wouldn't want Principal Minami finding out that she had cracked the mystery of Otonokizaka.

But what the others didn't know was a secret that escaped herself too. She had found it out only moments ago when she was sent an email from the person who had been supplying her with all of her information on the matter, her father.

If he agreed to give her all the information on Otonokizaka she would agree to go back and live with him at the end of the school year and follow in his footsteps. As much as Rin was against the idea, her thirst for knowledge and the wanting of a better life for those six girls and her two friends overpowered her own wants and needs.

And yet, there was still more.

"I'm not a Hoshizora...?" Rin mumbled, confused by the contents of the email. "...Then who am I?"

 **OKAY BY THIS POINT IN TIME I WOULD UNDERSTAND IF YOU GUYS ARE VERY CONFUSED WITH WHAT'S GOING ON WITH RIN AND ALL. THAT WILL ALL BE EXPLAINED IN THE EPILOGUE. WELL, IT WON'T BE EXPLAINED, BUT HEAVILY HINTED AT. YOU'LL HAVE TO USE YOUR BRAIN.**

 **NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE WHERE NOZOELI COMES TO PLAY AND THEN THE FINAL CHAPTER WILL BE THE EPILOGUE. I MAY CONTINUE THE STORY AFTER THE EPILOGUE-NOT FOLLOWING THE EPILOGUE BUT FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS AND WHAT HAPPENS TO RIN AND ALL-BUT I PROBABLY WILL NOT BE. SO THAT MEANS EVERYTHING IS COMING TO A CLOSE :(**

 **HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THE CHAPTER!**


	17. Chapter 17

An unknown tune.

Eli whistled to herself as she stood in the school's small gazebo. It was around seven in the morning, Christmas day.

She couldn't sleep. How could she? It was Christmas, nobody slept on Christmas. So here she was, the dawn air cold. It nipped at her exposed cheeks, so they were rosy by this point in time. The rest of her body was covered in a large black coat and a white scarf.

Eli pondered the thought of whether or whether not to join the Tulips. The idea seemed crazy. The president of the Tulips had just locked her in an abandoned school with five other people with the intention of having them join her group.

But Eli wasn't so sure if that was Rin's true intentions.

She felt like she owed it to her. The six girls were now all good friends, of course this caused an uproar in the Lily and Rose districts. Maybe a transfer would be a good thing, shake the grounds of Otonokizaka, see how Principal Minami would react.

Rin was prepared to lead this school to justice. Eli could say she could do it as well, but Rin had the resources and the information. Most likely there were still things that Eli didn't even know, and Rin being the genius she was, knew everything about everything.

Nico thought it was a crazy idea, but everyone else didn't feel the same way. It would be a weight off of Eli and Nozomi's shoulders, of course. But Eli liked being in power. She liked having control over people.

Nozomi wasn't really the same way. Eli felt that the girl had only became the representative so she could get back at Eli. It was spiteful, but Eli didn't blame her.

The blond sighed, remembering how things were before all of this. Things were simpler, less complex. She was too young to be so overwhelmed like this. These were supposed to be the best days of her life, the best _year_ of her life specifically.

"Elicchi?" Nozomi's voice slightly startled Eli, but she didn't show it. She hummed in response, to enveloped in her thoughts to form a proper reply.

She could hear the Lily's footsteps as she walked over to the gazebo, leaning against the side like Eli currently was. There was nothing but silence as Eli felt Nozomi's gaze on her, quickly becoming self-conscious in spite of herself. She bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything stupid.

"Merry Christmas." She resided with saying, flashing a small smile to the girl. Nozomi nodded in response, grinning.

"Merry Christmas." Nozomi responded, taking a deep breath as she decided just to look out with Eli, silence once again appearing at the old gazebo.

After a few moments, Eli reached down to where her backpack was leaning against the gazebo. She unzipped one of the pockets and pulled out a small box, wrapped up in pink wrapping paper and decorated with a small red bow.

She handed the box to Nozomi, who looked at her in shock.

"Merry Christmas." Eli repeated, a small, almost sad smile on her face. Nozomi decided not to question it, even though she really wanted to. _Really_ wanted to.

Nozomi took the present slowly, not sure if she was dreaming this up or not. She placed the present on the gazebo ledge and undid the bow before tearing off the wrapping paper. It revealed a box of six caramel chocolates, each wrapped in a golden wrapping.

"No way..." Nozomi muttered as she open the box and unwrapped one of the chocolates. This was it. These were her favorite chocolates as a kid.

They weren't her favorite because she loved caramel, per se. Now Nozomi would intervene and tell you that caramel is delicious, it wasn't the reason she loved them. Her mom and dad worked all the time, so often she was switching around school, not having many friends.

One day it was Valentine's Day at one of the school's she was going to. It was a little lonely, mostly because she didn't have anyone to celebrate it, so she just stood outside, sitting on a swing at one of the swing-sets.

 _Nozomi whistled to herself as she sat on the swing, too tired to actually, well, swing. Maybe tired wasn't the word. She just didn't want to deal with the world today._

 _Valentine's Day was always an exceptionally lonely holiday. Christmas was good because she could spend time with her family. Halloween was tolerable since she got chocolate for_ _ **free**_ _with no catches or extra requirements. Nobody gave a shit about Ground Hog Day and the other holidays were tolerable._

 _It wasn't even like she was looking for romance or anything, but Valentine's day is where singles spent time with their friends and lovers spent time with one another. Nozomi had nobody. Next to her parents. And that was sad._

 _She sighed as she continued to swing. She was only in grade six, this wasn't really that big of a deal. It really wasn't. At all._

 _So then why did she feel so sad? Her face was downcast as she stared at the ground, kicking her feet at the gravel disinterestedly. Life sucked._

 _Her ears perked as she heard a noise, and looked to her right to see a girl sitting in the swing next to her. She was wearing a white polo shirt and dark blue skinny jeans, her hair tied into a ponytail. In her hand she clutched a white sac, piled high with chocolates._

 _"_ _Ayase...?" Nozomi knew it was this girl right when she saw the abundance of Valentine's chocolate. This girl, being a_ _ **girl**_ _, somehow was able to attract the whole student body, male and female, without any effort. It was her masculinity that the girls fell for and her beauty the boys fell for. She could be described as almost gender-less, yet a total girl at the same time._

 _Eli sighed as she tore open a package of chocolates, eating them as she looked out warily, clearly tired by the amounts of thank you's she had to say the last hour._

 _Nozomi couldn't help but feel resentment for the girl. She had everything anybody ever wanted. The looks, the charm, the everything, and yet she was complaining about it. Nozomi didn't even have any_ _ **friends**_ _._

 _"_ _I didn't know somebody could receive so many chocolates." Eli muttered, obviously loud enough for Nozomi to hear. The violet haired girl scowled, not sure if the girl was trying to insult her or not._

 _The blond smirked as she continued to eat more chocolates, and it felt like she was rubbing it in Nozomi's face. Behind the cool and calm appearance was a total douche-bag._

 _"_ _I also didn't know somebody could receive no chocolates." Eli laughed. Nozomi bit her tongue, now knowing that the girl hadn't sat on the swing next to her for no reason._

 _Eli continued to eat chocolates, kicking at the gravel. Nozomi wanted to leave, desperately, but just couldn't. Something was holding her back for some strange reason._

 _Eli rose from her swing, leaving her bag of chocolates on the ground as she clutched a small box in her hand, wrapped in pink wrapping paper and decorated with a small red bow._

 _Maybe this was the best one Eli had received and she wanted to rub it in Nozomi's face, yet again. This girl was cruel. Really cruel._

 _"_ _Somebody who doesn't receive chocolates deserves to receive some. I don't like Valentine's Day, because whoever doesn't like chocolates must feel like they aren't loved." Eli brushed some fallen hair out of her face that nearly caused Nozomi's breath to hitch. "Valentine's Day isn't the holiday of love, it's the holiday of finding somebody that you may like a little bit and then being 'happy'. It's stupid and a waste of time, well, next to the chocolates. But you didn't even get the chocolates. It's like some kind of Halloween rip off." Eli shook her head in distaste, stuffing her free hand in her pocket while the other one clutched the box._

 _"_ _I knew you weren't going to get any chocolates, so I went and bought these for you. I hope you like them because they costed a pretty penny." Eli smiled, handing the chocolates over to Nozomi, almost shyly._

 _Nozomi looked at the girl in total shock, unsure of whether to grab the box of chocolates. When a minute or two passed, a frown found itself on the blond's face._

 _"_ _Listen, they aren't poison. My allowance wouldn't cover that..." Eli muttered the last part sourly, averting her eyes, hoping that Nozomi would just take the chocolates before she said something stupid._

 _Nozomi looked at the chocolates for a few more moments before she slowly reached her hand out and grabbed the chocolates. Her eyes flickered at the chocolates and then at Eli, before realizing that the girl was suddenly gone, the bag of chocolates gone with her._

 _She tore through the wrapping paper, revealing six caramel chocolates wrapped in golden wrapping paper. Instantly she tore through one of them and popped it in her mouth._

 _Come on. She was a kid and she wanted chocolates._

 _"_ _Ayase Eli. You're weird."_

Nozomi placed one of the chocolates in her mouth, content with the delicious flavor. Maybe it was more of the nostalgia that made her like these chocolates next to the actual taste.

Eli reached over and snagged one of the chocolates, earning herself a light smack from the violet haired girl. Eli chuckled as she unwrapped the chocolate, popping it in her mouth contently.

"Thanks for the gift Elicchi, I feel bad not getting one for you." Nozomi admitted. Eli shook her head, swallowing the chocolate as she grinned.

"Don't worry about it. Just being here with you is a gift in itself." Eli smiled, a light pink tint appearing on Nozomi's cheeks as she mentally berated herself for blushing.

"Shouldn't you save lines like those for your girlfriend?" Nozomi countered, happy with her smart save. Eli's expression changed at the mention of that, her eyes looking back out the gazebo.

"She broke up with me." Eli admitted, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear as she looked at the fallen snow wistfully. Nozomi gasped, surprised on how she hadn't heard of it. The two seemed fine with one another, so how had the girl missed this? "It was recent." Eli explained, as if she had read Nozomi's mind. "Yesterday night. Maybe it added to the fact on why I couldn't get any sleep."

Nozomi looked at Eli sadly, leaning her head against the taller girl's shoulder.

"Sorry." Was all Nozomi could say, genuinely feeling bad for the girl. Eli didn't respond, and instead started whistling again, filling up the Christmas morning. Students would surely be waking soon.

"I'm in love with you." Eli said out of the blue, but Nozomi wasn't shocked. She had expected this.

"I know." She replied simply, emotions suddenly switching off at probably one of the most important moments that they needed to be on. She was tired, dealing with all the things going on in her life. She just wanted things to be _simple._

Eli cleared her throat, scratching the back of her neck, not sure what to say. "So...Uh..." Eli mumbled dumbly, inwardly yelling at herself for acting like such a moron. "You know...I mean..."

"Elicchi?" Nozomi cut Eli off, her hands tightening around the edge of the gazebo. "Did you love Kotori?" Her voice was odd, the tone unrecognizable. It sent Eli on edge, the hairs on her neck standing up in actual _fear_.

"Uh..." Eli scratched her neck again, more aggressively then before. "Uh...No, I don't think I was in love with her, but I did like her a lot." Eli decided to be truthful. There really was no need to lie about it, and there was also the fact that Kotori and Nozomi would best friend.

Nozomi hummed, not responding immediately until a few moments later.

"What was kissing her like?" She wondered, her tone still cautious and cold. "Was it soft or rough? Quick or slow? Sweet or sour?"

To say that the questions were weird was an understatement. Eli wasn't really sure what to say in response. What does a person say in that type of situation? She sure as hell didn't know, she had some creepy stalkers, but this creeped her out more.

"Uh..." Eli relied on her good old dumb look, scratching her neck for the umpteenth time, feeling nervous for some reason. This choice, this response, seemed like a life or death situation. "It was good...I don't think that there's really a need for you to know." Eli mentally kicked herself for this comment. _I'm such a dumb-ass!_

"Oh really?" Nozomi moved her head, turning so that her back was leaning against the gazebo this time, looking at Eli with an intimidating gaze. "There's not a need for me to know? Interesting, since you're apparently in love with me and yet you deduced it was a great idea to date my best friend." Nozomi said bitterly, Eli now understanding the situation.

A frown appeared on the girl's face, the guilt she was trying to come to terms with reappearing full force.

"I apologize, it was spur of the moment." Eli admitted guilty, regret clear in her voice. "I'm really sorry." She repeated, hoping the girl got the message after she had apologized many a times before.

"Hmm..." Nozomi trailed off, her posture almost judgmental. It slightly irritated Eli. "Whatever you say." Nozomi still was acting bitter. It was like she thought that...

Oh.

OH.

 _OH._

 _ **OH.**_

Eli finally understood.

The girl thought Eli had dated Kotori just to get under her skin.

Oh.

"I liked Kotori, a lot. It wasn't just a shitty way to get at you like you think it is." Eli said sternly, annoyed that the girl would think that.

Nozomi narrowed her eyes at Eli. "Don't act like you're surprised or something. I expect those sort of things from you." Nozomi spat, finally releasing what she had felt, piled up, for the last _years._

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Eli asked angrily, her hands balling into fists. Nozomi shrugged.

"What do you think? You do all these things to try and get at me all the time." Nozomi continued, a dismissing look on her face. Eli looked at the girl exasperatedly, surprised by the amount of bitterness.

"Don't act like your on the good side of things. You did things to spite me as well." Eli reminded the girl, who smirked.

"Wow, getting defensive huh. You are always like this, trying to redirect the blame at somebody else." Eli rolled her eyes, chuckling ironically.

"Says the one whose acting all defensive! I mean, come on, your coming at me all of the sudden with all this bitterness. How the hell am I supposed to react?" Eli asked, crossing her hands over her chest.

Nozomi didn't respond, residing to just turn away and huff. Eli rolled her eyes at the girls childishness, not used to this side of Nozomi appearing. She did see it every once in a while, but nothing like this.

Maybe Eli deserved it.

No, that wasn't true. Eli deserved a lot of things, but not getting told what she did wrong over and over and over again. The blond finally realized this what was she had been searching for for all this time. For Nozomi to be angry, to hate her, get mad at her.

But that wasn't how it worked. That wasn't how one became content. Maybe Eli had developed feelings for the wrong person, but the heart wants what it wants.

And it wasn't like Eli didn't feel _bad_ about it. It wasn't like she hadn't tried to _apologize_ about it. That was the fickle thing of a heart. Do you forgive somebody who wronged you?

Eli would say yes. Others would say no. Some would say it took time. Of course, everything took time. Everything did.

But after all the years of hatred and anger what Eli didn't need was somebody yelling at her again. Somebody telling her for the hundredth time that she did something stupid and that she should feel bad for it.

"No shit I did something stupid and no shit I feel bad about it!" Eli exclaimed her thoughts suddenly, slamming her hands against the gazebo edge. "And yet, Kotori's getting no shit about it. And yet, Eli's is the evil person in this situation! Do you realize how many times Maki or Nico got mad at me for doing something like this? Actually, Kotori had been pretty mad too last night, even though she regretted it!"

"Not to mention on how Umi unleashed at me after we got out of that hellhole of a school. It was fucking awful! Sure, I deserved it, but it didn't make me feel any better about myself! When are you guys going to learn that I feel bad! Just because somebody does something stupid doesn't mean they don't regret it!" Eli cried, sick of everybody getting mad at her. Sick of her getting mad at herself.

Nozomi's mind was spiraling at the sudden declaration, wondering what to say in turn. The whole things just pissed Nozomi off further, and she had the sudden need to hit something. Really hard.

So she turned around, prepared to slap Eli across the face, when instead, on a whim, she grabbed the girls collar and pulled her down so close that she could feel the blond breathing on her.

"I hate you. So why do I love you?" Nozomi said simply before leaning in and kissing Eli aggressively.

Eli's eyes went wide as a feeling bubbled in her chest, far different then anything she felt like with Kotori. It was extreme and dominate, having complete control over her actions and movements as she eagerly kissed back, wrapping her hands around the girls waist.

Nozomi wasn't sure what she was doing, but it put her heart at rest, and she slowed down the kiss dramatically, it becoming slow and soft instead of intense and rough.

Eli was surprised by the sudden change in tempo, but complied. It was after a few moments that the two girls separated, gasping for air.

Love was fickle. But at least they had both found it.

"Merry Christmas."


	18. Chapter 18

**HEY YA'LL! Sorry for no author's note last chapter, didn't want it to break the whole moment, you feel me?**

 **Anyways, just wanted to thank each and every one of you who have either reviewed and/or have followed or favorite! We are almost at seventy follows! 70! Like, yo, dat be crazy!**

 **It's been quite a journey with it's ups and downs, and we are almost at the end, so I want to thank everyone who took time to give this story a read. This chapter is the second last chapter, the next one will be the epilogue.**

 _ **Hold on to your panties and/or boxers.**_

"Ew, that's fucking gross." Rin mumbled as she watched Eli and Nozomi kissing through a pair of binoculars she had borrowed- _stolen_ -from Honoka. Though, she did have to admit, it was _kind_ of cute.

But that was it. Nothing else. Love was bullshit. Praise the devil.

Rin laughed to herself as she moved away from the binoculars, dropping her hands, her right one still clutching the binoculars. It wasn't snowing, but it was rather dark out and the ground was covered in a sheet of white pleasure.

It had been a long couple of months since Rin had transferred to Otonokizaka. Her life had changed dramatically. Who knew that she could be such a genius?

Her grades weren't that great, but her mind prevailed. Her intelligence was superior over mathematics and different sciences; she had the power to look into someones soul and see ways to _defeat_ them in a matter of moments. Rin didn't need a stupid scientific theory or a mathematical equation to figure out how the human mind worked.

The ginger wondered if she would be a psychiatrist. Maybe. But she didn't think she could see herself sitting in a room with some stranger talking about their life problems.

No. Her mind always had to be moving. She had to be solving mental equations and solving human theories. Maybe that was a science in itself. Maybe Rin wasn't as stupid as she thought she was.

Well, she couldn't forget that she was one of the best track stars in Japan. Yeah, that was pretty important too.

"Dammit. Why do I have to be good at everything?" Rin sighed, running her free hand through her orange hair, leaving the Otonokizaka grounds to head back up to her dorm room. She should let the couple be.

Her mind started reeling back to the task at hand: destroying Otonokizaka. Well, more or less, taking down Principal Minami.

Actually, it was more like she was taking down the Takashi's. Minami was just one of their puzzle pieces, a puppet that did their bidding. The Takashi's were a power hungry people.

And to think...

Rin shook her head, noticing Nico and Maki standing with one another outside of the Rose Red dorm, both of their faces red.

She tried not to scowl. Love was great and all, but she was sick of all the couples. Maybe she was just jealous because she didn't have somebody.

Maki had Nico, Eli had Nozomi, Kotori had Umi, and she was pretty sure that Hanayo and Honoka were fuck buddies. Well, probably not, but you could get what the ginger was saying.

Rin sighed again, feeling tired. She was always tired. She was always working, really. Rechecking all of her information, meeting up with her Tulips needs, getting the six girls to transfer to the Tulips.

She was sure she could get four of them, but really, it was pointless if Nozomi and Eli weren't going to transfer. If they didn't, there was no possible way for the others to transfer.

Even Kotori was willing to transfer. Kotori! Her mother owned the school for god's sake, and yet she wasn't blind to the darkness of Otonokizaka. Maybe Nozomi and Eli weren't willing to accept it.

The truth was harsh, but it was the truth. Avoiding it was futile and stupid, and it was the one thing standing in Rin's way to leading all the students of Otonokizaka to proper education and less exposure to the dark side of the media.

It was really starting to piss her off. She would be saving lives! Well, not really, but she would be making the ignorant people learn a lesson or two.

Plus, then the Takashi's wouldn't be so damn rich and have all the power they do. They really needed to be taken down a few notches before they took over all of Japan; with all the money they were currently collecting, they must have a high amount of political power.

And yet, they all do it in the background, sneaking behind the public eye to gain an extra dollar or two. It was sickening, but ingenious. Brilliant, even. Rin held a high level of respect for _them._

Well, she was...

Rin shook her head, kicking open the door to her room, setting her binoculars on her table. It was time for a confrontation.

She couldn't attack Principal Minami without some help. She would need Eli and Nozomi on her side, and her dad of course. He didn't have any of his money, but he had the ability to sue and the ability to hire lawyers and get the police involved. Nobody would believe a student. Nobody would believe Rin.

She sat on her lounge chair, rolling it over to her desk. She flipped open her laptop, her fingers becoming familiarized with the keyboard rather quickly as she typed into the search bar.

Once Rin had gotten to her email account, she opened a fresh message to her father, typing in that she needed him to get some lawyers and to get the police involved when she signaled him. It would be soon.

Rin slipped out her chair, jogging down the stairs, hoping she could catch Nozomi and Eli mid-make out session and get some humiliation going. That always seemed to help her out when she needed it most.

Exiting the Tulips' building revealed that the two were still in fact there, but unfortunately-well, fortunately as well since watching people make out wasn't really Rin's favorite thing to do-they were done going at it.

Rin began clapping slowly as she approached the two girls, a smirk painted across her face as the two girls looked towards her, Eli wearing the usual irritated face whenever she saw Rin.

"What do you want?" Eli snapped, stuffing her hands into her pockets, Nozomi standing behind her. Rin couldn't say she blamed them. She _did_ lock them in an abandoned school for a few hours.

"Merry Christmas to you too Ayase." Rin replied, ignoring her comment as she stood before the gazebo, looking up at the sky. "Doesn't the sky just look so pretty? Perfect for a holiday, especially Christmas."

"What do you want Rin?" Nozomi spoke up this time, much to Rin's amusement. She shrugged, still looking at the sky. It was too easy.

"I don't know, it's Christmas, I expected you guys to get me a present at least." Rin faux-pouted, snickering when she saw the ticked off look on Eli's face.

"We don't owe you anything." Eli spat, taking on a more defensive form.

"But it's Christmas! When Jesus our Savior was born! Shouldn't we put our old feuds behind us to partake in a festive turkey dinner?" Rin suggested, humming some kind of carol to herself merrily.

When she didn't hear response, she frowned. These two were tough nuts to crack. Maybe making fun of them all the time wasn't her best idea ever...

"Listen, I'm done walking on thin ice. It's time for you two to stop being immature idiots and step up to the plate." Rin's anger came to play as she narrowed her eyes at the representatives. This was the battle to rule them all. The Tulips verses the Roses and the Lilies. And she was not backing down this time.

"How about you listen, Rin?" Eli butt in, stepping down from the gazebo to get closer, wearing her usual cool and intimidating look. "You have no idea how to run a school. You've only been a representative for three months. Don't you think it would be more beneficial to have you and your Tulips transfer to a more proper and trained division like the Roses or the Tulips?" Eli reminded the girl.

Rin sighed. The girl was right, of course. She surely had more knowledge. But Rin had the facts, the proof, the evidence, the _drive._ She had solved the mystery of Otonokizaka all on her own while it took six girls hours to even comprehend slightly.

"Eli, let's lay down the facts here. You have the power and the money to run over the Takashi's, no doubt about it. But you don't have the facts. You don't have the research. You don't have the inside scoop." Rin reminded the girl. Eli growled, shaking her head.

"What are you talking about? I know everything, you revealed it all to me in the hellish school!" Eli tried to keep her voice down, she didn't want to wake anybody up who didn't want to get up.

"Who cares? You don't have the proof! You don't have the hard drive chalk full of information. And don't go thinking you can find it anywhere, I had to dig for days just to get what I had. Those Takashi's, they're snide as hell and they cover their tracks." Eli averted her eyes, knowing that their was no way she was capable of getting that information.

"Okay Rin, but how do you think you are going to get access to Eli's money? You're going to need it, of course, to engage in such a legal battle with the Takashi's." Nozomi spoke, stepping out of the gazebo to take her spot next to Eli, the girl shooting her a gracious smile. "Not to offend, but you clearly don't have the funds." Rin sighed, scratching the back her neck. _She got me._

"It's true, I don't have the funds, unfortunately." Rin admitted, moving to lean against the side of the gazebo. "But really Eli, don't you think you owe it to me? I mean, I really saved your life." Rin spoke with a cocky tone, eliciting a growl from Eli.

"Um, what? Actually, you kind of ruined my life!" Eli barked, Nozomi placing a hand on the girl's shoulder to calm her down. She straightened her tie, clearing her throat. "What I mean is, I don't believe I owe you anything. My life was on track before the whole incident." Rin rolled her eyes, laughing obnoxiously, becoming increasingly annoyed with Eli with the passing moment.

"Ha! That's rich Eli, rich. Because from what I remember, you lost all your friends and had sort of ruined your girlfriend's life. Of course, Kotori was equally as guilty, but she's naive. People expected more from the clear minded Ayase." Eli scowled in the background, but before she could speak, Rin continued. "I mean, really, you think I'm stupid? I wouldn't lock you in a goddamn school for no reason."

"Psychologically speaking, when you are placed in a situation that could be life threatening or life challenging when you have no access to proper information, you tend to rely on your gut instinct. Especially when you're tired, your brain becomes sluggish and you can't process things properly, obviously. It's almost like you fall into a drunken state; you are more liable to state things that you would most likely keep secret if you were fully aware of your situation."

"Now as much as you like to spite me and say that your life would be on track if the whole haunted Otonokizaka episode hasn't happened, is that really true? I mean, surely your relationship with Kotori wouldn't last. Not because you aren't compatible, of course, but the guilt would get to you. That's the type of person you are Eli."

"So here you would be, stuck without any friends without a clear path in life. Kotori would most likely drift back to Umi with chocolates and crying and lots of acts of forgiveness, but you are too hard on yourself to do something so easily. Most likely you would try to forget about your experiences at Otonokizaka, with Nozomi, until it ate you alive."

"After years you would probably reach out to Nozomi. Unfortunately, it's far too late, she's moved on with her life. Maybe she'd be okay being friends, but you'd never be great friends, not like you were before."

"She'd even invite you to her wedding. You wouldn't be a bridesmaid, of course, just another average Joe attending the ceremony. You would want to interject, but yet again, you are too hard on yourself to let yourself do that. So you would merely watch as Nozomi married off to some suitor, living a, most likely, faux life of luxury while your emotions ate away from you."

Before Rin could continue, a palm made contact with her right cheek, hard enough to make Rin stumble slightly. Her cheek was beet red as she bit her lip in pain, trying not to cry out. She hadn't expected this one.

"Eli!" Nozomi hadn't expected this one either, obviously, but Eli had acted up. Rin didn't really blame her, the orange haired girl surely would have done the same thing. It isn't exactly the funnest thing in the world to have somebody who locked you in a abandoned school to tell you how fucked your life would be if she _hadn't_ locked you in an abandoned school.

Rin spat on the ground, a wide grin on her face as she stared down Eli, pulling up the sleeves of her shirt. Sometimes talking didn't do it all. Rin had been etching for a good fight anyways, even if it was physical.

"Okay Ayase, you want to play it this way. Fine. Let's go. All day." Rin snickered, the look on Eli's face full of hatred and, unsurprisingly, guilt. And maybe some self-hate as well...

"Eli, don't do this..." Nozomi trailed off, being the logical one in the situation. There was no need to start a fight! It was pointless and it wouldn't advance the conversation any further. Most likely, it would be more of a hindrance then a helper.

But before she continue, the blond rushed in, swinging right for Rin's face. The ginger ducked, adrenaline pumping through her veins as her natural reflexes kicked in. Eli's stomach was exposed, so Rin quickly jabbed there, causing the blond to keel over. _Rookie._

Before Rin could throw another punch, Eli pulled herself up, becoming more aware to what a fight _really_ was. Eli was a girl who did business and worked on computers. Sure, she went to the gym rather often and kept herself in shape, but she was no martial artist.

The blond swung again at Rin, which was only blocked. Rin then took a turn, aiming for the gut for a second time, since that seemed to be the sweet spot.

But Eli wasn't so stupid this time. She side stepped out of the way, and now that Rin's face was exposed, she went for a killer one right to the nose.

"FUCK!" Rin cried, her eyes watering after the good hit to the nose. It wouldn't be enough to break it, but it still hurt like hell, and caused her vision to become blurry. "Motherfucker..." Rin spat, looking for Eli through her hindered vision.

The girl was already going in for another swing, but Rin was certainly faster then Eli, and dodged to the right, aiming for a kick to the exposed side, just above the hip.

Eli bit her tongue from the impact, and before she could react, she had earned a hard hit to her right eye. She doubled over, clutching her eye, groaning out in pain as Rin watched with a crazed look.

"Yeah, that's fucking right Ayase! Don't you fucking try to pick one with me!" Rin spat, leaping from foot to foot, blood pouring out of her nose, turning the snow a dark red color. "I didn't need a fucking daddy or mommy to defend me! I took care of my goddamn self, and it seems like it did me some good, because I'm whipping your ass!"

Maybe the reason Rin was so good at identifying people was because she was such a troubled person herself. Maybe she didn't want to be a psychiatrist because she was the one in need of psychological aid.

Rin was crazy, inhuman, not sane.

 _But she was okay with that._

"That's right! Whose fucking next! Step up, let's have some fun! FUCKING TRY ME!" Rin began to laugh, and it sent shivers down both Eli and Nozomi's spines. They knew Rin wasn't going to pull anything too dangerous, but she certainly wasn't safe in the state she was currently in.

"Rin." Nobody had noticed Honoka standing a few feet away, Hanayo standing behind her. Of course the two had been aware of the situation. Wherever Rin went, the dynamic duo followed. "This is not you Rin." Honoka continued, taking a step towards Rin, who retreated.

"Huh? What the fuck is that supposed to been punk? How the hell do you know me, bitch?!" The insane gleam in Rin's eyes never disappeared, and she was still jumping from foot to foot, her nose still bleeding as different bruises formed around her body.

Honoka continued in her calm tone, her foot tapping against the floor. _Always tapping._

"Rin, you need to calm down." Honoka repeated, taking a step closer to Rin. The girl didn't retreat this time, but held up her fists threateningly, trying to show she wasn't afraid.

"You want to go, Honoka? I'm down for round two! I just took down the fucking Jesus of Otonokizaka! Nobody can stop me now!" Rin laughed again, slowly losing control of reality as she felt herself being pulled into an unknown world, one nobody should ever have to experience.

"Rin, I feel sorry for you." Honoka took a completely different turn after she saw being calm wasn't working.

She spoke in a cynical tone, that wasn't condescending, just blunt and cruel. Her face took on a intimidating expression, as if she knew what you were thinking. Nozomi could tell what the girl was doing, she was trying to be Rin.

"Ha! You feel sorry for me, I feel sorrow for you! Bitch you have fucking ADHD, a serious case to that, and you feel sorry for me! I'm the queen! I rule this damn school!" Rin laughed loudly again, and Eli was happy that the gazebo wasn't too close to the dormitories.

"Yeah, I do feel sorry for you. You are always trying to solve other people's problems when you are the core problem of all your worries." Honoka continued, moving to walk circles around Rin.

"Yeah fucking right. I'm the only one who did a damn thing! How would I be the one in my way?" Rin asked in an annoyed tone, quickly becoming pissed with Honoka's antics. The brunette shrugged, whistling as she went. She was taking on a character. She was taking on Rin.

"You aren't mentally stable Rin, and I don't blame you for it. I mean, I would be pretty fucked up too if my mom died when I was young and my dad ditched me at a young age. Not to mention the fact that my aunt verbally, and sometimes physically, abused me. And yet, for some reason, you prioritize her so highly. Say she was good to you. Why is that?" Rin narrowed her eyes, her leaping becoming quicker as Nozomi and Eli's eyes widened.

"Don't talk about my aunt, okay! You don't know a fucking thing! She took care of me, she taught me how things in the world were! I was fucking prepared to take on the world, to take on people!" Rin cried, her knuckles turning white.

"Why Rin? Why do you respect her? I think you do it because she was the only person you could love. Everybody needs love, and you had unfortunately decided to associate it with the relationship with your aunt. That wasn't love, that was child cruelty." Honoka paused, thinking for a few moments, but yet she was quick enough to cut Rin off before she went on another crazed rant.

"Poor Hoshizora Rin, everyone thinks she's some cynical genius who can outwit anybody. Really, she's just a girl whose had to face way too much in seventeen years of life. I mean, her mom died, her dad was a deadbeat, and she was abused as a child. And she transferred that into her life now, she's easily able to drop people and humiliate them because she knows what it's like."

"And yet, she knows how to pick them right back up and get them seated on their horse. She's weird, because she'll throw people around like rag dolls and yet, somehow, give them a far better life then they had before. Maybe it's because nobody had given her the better life that she was capable of finding it for somebody else."

"And now she's stumbled upon Otonokizaka, being forced here to flee from her father. She's found herself in another emotionally draining challenge, not sure how she did it to herself for the hundredth time. Everything's starting to get to her, she's not ready. Her aunt had taught her wro-."

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP WON'T YOU!" Rin dropped the ground, her hands digging to the snow as blood and tears dripped down her chin, falling onto the ground. "JUST SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Rin repeated endlessly, sobs escaping her mouth in between yells.

Honoka's expression softened, her eyes watering as the old Honoka came back in an instant and she sat down next to Rin to comfort the girl. Hanayo quickly followed, pulling out a handkerchief to dry the tears, using the other side to wipe off the blood.

Eli watched the whole display with soft eyes. Lot's of mysteries had been cracked that year.

Or maybe just two.

The mystery of Otonokizaka.

And they mystery of Hoshizora Rin.

"Fine, we'll join the Tulips."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey y'all! Not much to say this chapter, but thank you all who are following and reviewing! I appreciate each and every review, of course! And we've passed 10,000 views! That's insane, absolutely insane! Just wanted to thank everyone for that.**

 **I also wanted to respond to a specific comment who had something that was a very good point and I would like to go over. Those who only care for the story should probably just scroll down. Don't worry, it won't hurt my feelings :P**

 **Anyways, the comment said that my Rin was sort of an OC and not really the original character. Now, first things first, I'm not directing any hate towards the person who left the comment. It is an extremely good point.**

 **And it's actually kind of true...LOL**

 **The whole point of this story when I was going in was to give Rin a different... perspective, per se? I mean, in Love Live, we didn't have a badass character with a dark past like we have in hundreds of thousands of other animes. And unfortunately for Rin, her character was kind of a clone of Honoka, though at the end of the day Rin is my favorite character.**

 **And due to her similar characteristics to Honoka she sort of took the backseat on development and screen time. I guess you could consider Honoka's character development the same as Rin's since they are so very similar.**

 **So I thought Rin would be the perfect character for being the sort of protagonist/antagonist combo. I didn't want to bring in some stupid OC, because a lot of OC's are really fucking stupid. So I used a familiar face to bring across the image I wanted to bring.**

 **And it was awesome to see that a lot of people like badass Rin! Clearly others didn't feel the same way, but that's okay! That's the whole point of fanfiction. If you don't like what you read here, you can go look somewhere else.**

 **Anyways, now that that's all sorted out, we can continue on with the story! Hopefully whoever left the comment and can see my point on things. If not, I just ask that you don't flame or anything, and hopefully you find something else that is more accustom to your tastes.**

 **NOW ENOUGH OF THE SMALL TALK**

 **LET'S GET TO THE STORY, WHY DON'T WE?**

"Ah, it's good to see that everybody has gathered here like I requested. I was fearing some of you pussies might get yourselves out of this somehow..." Rin mumbled as she walked around the classroom. It was the last few days of Christmas break, unfortunately, but Rin had been happy with her break. She had accomplished a lot, at least.

Kotori sat in a desk next to Umi, glancing out the window to catch a glimpse of the falling snow. She smiled at the sight, brushing a hair out of her eyes that blocked a small portion of her vision. It had been a very eventful first few months for Kotori, it had certainly been a whirlwind of a time, but she was happy with the time she was having at Otonokizaka.

"Kotori, please keep your attention on me. I know my hotness can cause possible vision defects but it can't be so powerful that you have to look away." Rin smirked, placing a piece of paper in front of the brunette. Kotori smiled in response, cheeks slightly rosy from embarrassment.

Rin walked back to the front of the classroom. She had finished passing out all of the papers to the eight girls she had gathered together in the empty classroom. All of them sat together in pairs, looking at each other every once in a while. It was kind of disturbing, but Rin looked past it.

"Good to see everybody had found their way through the dark pathway of romance. We have got all of our favorite pairings." Rin said as she stood in front of Eli and Nozomi, a pointer stick in hand. "Good old NozoEli." Eli averted her eyes and flushed slightly while Nozomi giggled lightly, taking a sip out of her water bottle.

Rin moved to stand in front of Nico and Maki, grinning at them as well. "And who could forget NicoMaki? I mean, there _so_ cute together." Rin laughed loudly as the two girls huffed, scowling in response to Rin's claims. "Oh you people make me laugh..." Rin muttered under her breath as she approached Kotori and Umi.

"And KotoUmi! The pairing to rule them all. Not really actually, but whatever." Rin didn't stay too long to see the two girl's responses, but she was more then one hundred percent sure that Umi was flushed like a tomato while Kotori laughed.

"Oh, and my most favorite pairing of them all! My two best friends of course, I couldn't be happier to see the two of you together. Well, you know, if you actually _got_ together."

"So what's our pairing name?" Honoka asked in excitement, her finger tapping against the side of the desk familiarly. Hanayo blushed in the background, nervously adjusting her glasses, hoping she wouldn't be placed in the spotlight.

Rin brought a finger to her chin for a few moments, looking to be in deep thought. "Poo!" Rin laughed loudly while Honoka grimaced and Hanayo began coughing violently.

"Our ship name is called Poo?" Honoka cried. "Neither of our names even have a 'P' in them!" Honoka reminded Rin who had walked back to the front of the classroom. She was now standing in front of the chalkboard with her regular grin painted across her face.

"It makes perfect sense really. HonoPana, there's a 'P' in Pana and two 'O's' in Hono. Whatever, that's enough of my fun." Rin mumbled, shaking her head. A more serious look adorned her face as she turned to face the rest of the girls.

"The forms before you now, excluding Honoka and Poo of course-"

"My names Poo now?!" Hanayo's cry went unnoticed.

"Are your transfer forms to switch from one flower division to another. Obviously, you are all here to make the switch. First, Nozomi and Eli will have to turn in their forms. That is when Principal Minami will be making the announcement to see if anybody else will want to switch.

"And when the rest of you switch, there will obviously be total uproar. I don't know if you six are aware, but you are the popular girls in school." Nico made a sound of approval. "And once you switch, everybody else will want to switch. And once everybody else switches, it will be my turn." Rin explained as she walked over to the window. She leaned against it and crossed her hands over one another, whistling softly to herself.

"What are you going to do Rin?" Eli asked curiously as she uneasily entered her information for the switch. The response from the rest of the school would be unruly, of course, and it would change everything Eli had known for the past few years. But that most likely wasn't a bad thing.

"That's easy," Rin smirked as she looked out the window to see the falling snow that Kotori had been glancing at just moments before. "I'm going to be taking on the school."

"What?!" Principal Minami cried as she rose from her seat, slamming her hands on the desk. The noise caused Eli to flinch slightly, but her posture didn't waver. The first sign of weakness was how you carried yourself.

"Nozomi and I are both requesting switches to Tulips. Is that not in the rule book?" Eli asked, her gaze steady and strong. She was usually far more comfortable with Principal Minami, but when she knew what the woman was capable, circumstances changed. Drastically.

Minami swallowed, glancing at the duo to see if there was any hesitance in their words. But when she saw nothing, all she could do was frown at the revelation. Why were these two switching? Now of all times as well. What could have possibly triggered this? Minami gave them everything they wanted, and yet they wanted to transfer to the Tulips? They were practically the lowest of the high class. They had nothing. What could two brilliant students possibly find in them.

"...I suppose I have no choice." Minami admitted as she sat back down in her desk. If she went against their decision those two would have the whole school against her in moments, and that was a situation she did not want to encounter. "I will be announcing the switch immediately. Please be ready to accept the consequences." Minami's tone was stern as she placed the two files in her desk. She then moved to switch on an intercom, and spoke in a way that sent shivers down Eli's spine.

"Hello students, I have some very important news to present to everyone. Both Eli and Nozomi from the Rose Red and Lily White flower divisions respectively had requested a switch to the Tulips. Since the representatives have switched, everyone is presented with the option to switch to another division. If you would like to switch, please come to at my office and we can have something adjustments made. Thank you for your time." Eli could practically hear the gasps of surprise from where she stood in the office, and she exchanged wary looks with Nozomi.

This would be a very long day.

"Now Nozomi and Eli, I would ask that you two please leave the office. I have much to get to." The kindness seemed extremely forced and made Eli feel sick to her stomach. But the blond smiled in response-it was probably just as fake as Minami's-and bowed, Nozomi following suit.

With a gulp Eli exited the office, not surprised to see a group of Roses on one side and a group of Lilies on the other. It was like the parting of the Red Sea; though Eli certainly didn't feel like Moses.

"Eli..."

"Nozomi..."

"Is it true?!" Once the question had been asked, chatter and questions filled the halls of Otonokizaka as Eli felt herself pressed against the door to the Principal's office.

Nozomi stayed in place, keeping her cool in front of the large audience. Eli usually was pretty good with a large amount of people-I mean, you should see her on Valentine's Day-but with all the things going on it must have been pretty overwhelming.

"Yes, it is true." Nozomi said simply, and the group of people burst into an out roar. The violet haired girl knew that the flowers wouldn't do anything too violet-they were delicate flowers-but all the shouts and anger of protest weren't really helping her.

"Why? We just want to know why." One voice piped up, calming the mob as they all nodded in agreement.

This was when Eli stepped forward confidently. She commanded attention better in silence.

"There's something going on with this school, something bad. I advise you all to transfer to the Tulips immediately. This school is going to be going through quite a crisis very soon." Eli explained, her voice filled with sincerity and seriousness. This was no joke; it was a big deal.

While the crowd talk to each other in complete and utter confusion, Nozomi used the opportunity to grab Eli's arm and slip away. The plan was already starting.

"You too Nishikino? Yazawa?!" Minami asked incredulously as Nico and Maki stood before her. Nico nodded slowly, both of her hands tucked inside of her pockets because Maki was currently holding her form.

"Yes, Principal Minami." Maki said sternly as she set down the papers in front of Kotori's mom. This lady was being rather persistent in trying to stop them from transferring. "I apologize if it causes you any discomfort, but it is our final decision." Nico hummed in agreement, and began sucking on a ring pop that was attached to her ring finger.

The redhead looked at her raven haired friend for a few moments in annoyance before she turned to face the Minami again. "Thank you for your time." She bowed before exiting the room.

"Yeah I'm sorry as well, Principal Minami, this must be pretty stressful. If you want, you can have a suck of my ring pop." Nico offered, holding out her hand in front of Minami who looked at the saliva covered candy in disgust.

"Nico you moron!" Maki cried as she grabbed onto the back of her friends shirt, successfully pulling her outside of the office. "God, what were you thinking?" Maki mumbled. The earlier mob had cleared out to have their own discussion, leaving the coast clear for Maki and Nico.

The Lily-well, previous Lily-just laughed as she sucked on her ring pop, happy with how easy that went. "Sorry love. Happy that she didn't want any, though, because this is really good." Nico chirped before she began skipping towards the rendezvous point.

Maki's cheeks went tomato red, her hands tightening into fists.

"Did you just call me 'love'?!"

Now came the hard part.

Umi was always horrible at confrontations. She was good at them when she was really riled up, but now was bad since she had somehow been placed in a very awful situation.

Next to her stood Kotori, the principal's daughter who was nervously looking to her left and her right, clearly not wanting to bring bad news to her own mother. So, obviously, Kotori would not want to be the one telling Minami the bad news.

That left Umi.

The awkward silence that filled the room was intense as Umi stood before Principal Minami. She was fiddling intensely with her tie as cold sweats dripped down the side of her face. This was bad. Really bad.

"Ha-ha..." Umi laughed abruptly, scratching the back of her head anxiously. "So, Principal Minami, uh..." That's when the blue haired girl suddenly burst into a series of coughs, building up the tense tension. _Nice one Umi. Like this wasn't intolerable already._

Through Minami's body language Umi could tell that the woman wasn't amused. The left corner of her lip was curled downwards in annoyance, and her eyes where slightly slanted, signaling irritation. Her index finger tapped against the desk; showing that she was either anxious to get this over with or she was merely keeping herself attentive.

Umi was good at reading people. She just wasn't good at talking to them.

"Mom..." Kotori spoke up, stepping in front of Umi. Umi shot her a look of 'I'm sorry', but Kotori merely shook her head and grinned. It was her turn to face her mother, to face the darkness of her family. It wasn't up to Umi. "Umi, could you please leave the room? I'll make sure to turn in your form." Kotori said slowly, not wanting Umi to leave at all. But she had no right to drag the blunette into it by this point.

Umi nodded, accepting Kotori's decision as she bowed to Minami before leaving the room. Once she was outside of the office, a breath she didn't know she was holding onto was released. The stress of the situation had died down and her heart wasn't thumping so loudly.

"I thought that situation was inescapable." Umi mumbled to herself as she looked around the hallway. She noticed Maki standing a few feet away, waving to her. "Did you wait for me Maki?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, I thought this might happen. I can see why Kotori wouldn't want you in there." Maki explained. Umi nodded in agreement as she walked over to her friend, an uneasy look on her face.

"I'm afraid for her." Umi admitted as she reared her head to take a peek at the closed door of the office. "It must be a pretty horrible situation to find yourself in."

"It's only going to get worse, I'm afraid." Maki said, a scared tone clear in her voice. "I don't know what's going to happen to her mom. If Principal Minami ends up in jail..."

Umi's eyes widened at the mention of prison, and she gave Maki and incredulous look.

"Jail? We're bringing the police into this?" Umi asked. Maki nodded slowly, her eyes on the door. "Why?" Umi continued. This was a bad idea. Who would Kotori go with? Her father was dead, and her mother would soon be in jail.

"Why do you think Umi? This is fraud! All those sponsors think their actually doing something beneficial while the Takashi's are taking all the money for themselves. Of course, Minami will be guilty by association and will most likely serve a couple years of jail time. And who knows how long the Takashi's are going to be in there..." Maki trailed off.

Umi gulped and looked for a second time at the office. This situation was far bigger then she could ever have anticipated. They were dealing with trained professionals, court cases, and the cops. And this had all happened in a span of a few months.

"Kotori..." Umi mumbled as she looked at the door.

"Mom, you have to respect my decision!" Kotori yelled. She had yet to bring up anything involving the dark side of the school. She was afraid if she brought it up her mother would deny her switch to the Tulips, and that would ruin the whole plan.

"Listen Kotori, the schools in chaos right now." Minami said tiredly as she rubbed circles into her head, praying this situation would end sooner or later. "I've already had so many transfers. Did you know that there's almost twenty five Tulips now? After Nishikino and Yazawa switched everybody else did. What am I supposed to do? Everything's a big mess and I have so many things to sort out..." Minami cursed her luck as she organized all the transfer forms she had received. Roses and Lilies were depleting quickly, and she assumed that if Kotori transferred she would have nothing but Tulips.

What then? She guessed she could make the old Rose and Lily buildings two separate Tulip dorms. Then she would have to split the textbooks and resources between them, probably fix up the Tulips dorm so everyone would fit, buy more textbooks because if they were all in the same division they surely wouldn't want to share any more...

It would be a lot of lost money.

"I'm sorry Mom, but that's just the way it is." Kotori explained sadly, noticing her mother's tired features. But she wasn't really sure how she felt about the whole situation. Her mother was a criminal, working with an intricate system of thiefs and frauds called the Takashi's. "You'll figure it out."

"Why? Why is everyone transferring out?" Minami asked as she rose from her chair, wondering how it all could have happened over Christmas break, just under her nose.

Kotori faced the door, her hands stuffed into her pockets as she sighed.

"Hoshizora Rin."

That was enough.

Hoshizora Rin paced around her dorm room, mentally preparing herself for the advance on Principal Minami. Everything was ready, everything was prepared. Eli had gotten her father involved, as requested by Rin, and Ryuuji as also helped out as well.

Well, as much as he could with the limited resources he had.

Rin looked out the window. Taking on Minami also meant taking on the Takashi's. That would be interesting. The ginger wondered if they would recognize her. Probably, she assumed.

Rin had been slightly confused for a while. Her father, Ryuuji, had switched his name to Hoshizora, yet his sister, the aunt who was 'taking care' of her was a Hoshizora as well. But after clarifying it with her father, he explained something that confused Rin even further (if that was possible).

Her aunt _wasn't even her aunt._

Her last name was Hoshizora, and Rin supposed to further craft himself a fake persona, Ryuuji had melded himself into another family somehow. He had completely become a different person, and since her aunt had no family members that weren't deceased next to her own parents, Rin supposed it would have been easy enough.

So what? Was her aunt just some person Ryuuji picked off of the street, or did they have connections from previous interactions?

"This is all so confusing..." Rin mumbled to herself, deciding to put the current issue behind her, instead choosing to head towards the door. In one fluent motion she pushed open the door, her stature straightened and unnatural. She wasn't nervous. She just wasn't feeling...Rin.

She made her way silently out of the dormitory, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. She moved towards the school building, walking at a slow pace so she could recollect her thoughts over and over again. One could never be too prepared in this sort of situation.

Once she had arrived at the principal's office, she could hear voices from inside. It sounded like somebody was yelling, and Rin moved closer to the door, placing a curious ear on it. Turns out, Principal Minami was currently screaming at Kotori for, most likely, engaging in whatever Hoshizora Rin was planning.

An annoyed sigh escaped Rin's lips as she moved away. Silently she brought up her right leg and kicked open the door, silencing Principal Minami who was slightly shocked from the intrusion.

"Why am I not surprised? Minami is verbally abusing her daughter. Wonder if this is knew." Rin smirked as he walked into the office and plopped into the chair before the desk, placing her feet on the table. "Now, let your daughter go and we can chat like adults." Rin stated seriously, narrowing her eyes at the principal, hearing soft cries coming from Kotori in the corner.

Multiple expressions flashed across Principal's Minami's face, annoyance, irritation, guilt (most likely from yelling at her daughter, Rin assumed), and a plethora of other things Rin couldn't quite catch. She silently wished Umi was here. That girl read emotions like a book.

A tired sigh escaped Minami's lips as she faced her daughter, a light frown on her face. "Kotori, would you please leave the room?" Haruka asked weakly.

Kotori didn't respond, but did as her mother asked, and Rin felt her stomach churn slightly as the brunette left the room.

"I don't understand why you felt the need to take your anger out on Kotori." Rin spat, anger clear in her voice. "It's not like she wants to do it."

Minami ignored the girl and took a seat in her own chair, her demeanor showing that she was currently infuriated with the ginger. "This is your fault, Hoshizora. You have turned this whole school against me, and I wonder why. Why do you feel the need to?" Minami's tone was curious, but the angry undertone was clear as well.

"Don't act like this is nothing, Minami. You can say that I have been tracking your movements the past few weeks, per se, and I have dug up quite a few interesting facts." Rin crossed her hands over her chest, determination plastered across her face. "Unlike the majority of ignorant idiots at this school, I noticed something was up." Minami laughed, wondering what Rin could possibly be talking about.

"And what could that be?" Minami asked, crossing her own hands over one another. Rin had to admit, the woman was rather intimidating.

"Your involvements with the Takashi's. The whole money scam of all the sponsors. The fact that you are currently tracking talented children across the world for your own selfish needs. This school is nothing more then false advertisement to fuel your own desires." Though Rin's voice was eerily calm, Minami could feel the power behind the words. It send a shiver down the principal's spine, admittedly.

"Ha! That's bullshit. I don't have the time in the world for such an elaborate scheme." Minami brushed the young girl off, feigning obliviousness. "You clearly have gotten the wrong information from the wrong source."

"I would like to disagree, Haruka." Rin stood up from her seat and walked towards the large window behind where the principal was currently seated, glancing out it indifferently. "There's a lot of thing you don't know and that I do. You do know who my father is, correct?" Rin asked as she adjusted her tie, keeping her vision away from Minami as she continued to look out the window.

"Yes, Hoshizora Ryuuji. We haven't met, but I did receive that lovely letter." Rin smirked. That letter was worthless, by this point.

"Or maybe you would know him in different terms." Rin pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it, placing it on the desk before the principal. "You know him rather well, actually. He's your goddamn father."

Haruka's heart stopped at the slip of paper in front of her. It was a name transfer, from Minami to Hoshizora, and she could see her father's signature clearly. A disturbing feeling filled her stomach, and the sudden need to empty it became known as she forced down whatever was coming up.

"He's alive..." Minami's voice resounded complete and utter shock. Rin hummed characteristically, her cynical voice returning.

"Yes he's alive, and he's also my father. So I was wrong in the way thinking that Kotori and I are sisters, since technically she's my niece, and _you_ are my sister. Isn't that fucking weird?" Rin laughed, disgust evident in her bitter chuckle. "My dad is one messed up motherfucker that's for sure..."

"But guess what, because it gets even weirder! I don't know all the shit about your family just because my dad is a Minami, but spoiler alert, my mom is actually a Takashi! Aren't I just the luckiest baby in the world?" Rin laughed louder this time, a crazy look in her eyes. "Born into the most fucked up family in the world. Of course, my mother's name was changed into Hoshizora, but then she died so I was never told about her. Guess it makes sense that a Minami would sleep with a Takashi, I mean, their business was so closely intertwined." Rin had to take a deep breath to calm herself down. Once she started rambling, she never stopped, she learned. Maybe she should check into therapy or something...

...Nah.

"Fuck therapy..." Rin mumbled to herself before she walked back to her seat, Minami still looking at the paper incredulously, taking in all the news. "Anyways, now that this has all been uncovered, you are royally fucked my good friend. Good thing Kotori's eighteen, I think she'll be perfectly fine with you all locked up..." Rin spoke louder the normal to make sure that the Principal heard.

What she didn't expect was for Haruka to rip the paper into shreds before slamming both her hands onto the desk. Rin cringed at the loud noise, and nearly yelped when the desk toppled over after a harsh shove from the principal, who had a crazed look in her eyes.

"Don't you fucking dare Hoshizora! You're not taking my daughter away from me! You can take my school, my money, my friends, the Takashi's, but you are not taking my daughter!" Tears were streaming down Haruka's face, fear evident in her tone in what was going to happen to her. "Do you think I wanted this? Huh?! Do you?!" Haruka yelled, keeping her glare on Rin, who had taken back expression painted across her face. "Who in their right mind would want this? I'm dealing with some of the dirtiest, most terrifying people in the world, and most of the time I don't even know what the fuck I'm doing! But I had to do it, because my lousy father ditched us and I had to take care of my family somehow!"

Haruka looked down at he ground, salty tears cascading from her eyes before they each took their turn falling onto the floor, each one politely offering to go in front of the next. It was odd to see someone so powerful like Haruka be exposed. To be cracked. To be vulnerable.

Who were people really? Why did they exist? Why were so many people unaware of the dark side of the world?

A dark laughter shook the room, coming from Haruka's fragile lips. A crazed expression appeared on her face as she slowly tilted her head up to meet Rin's gaze, a crooked, toothy grin on her face.

"It's my father's fault. All his fault. He ruined us. He ruined the Minami's, just so he could keep up his appearance. He was never a good person. He never was, and yet I was obsessed with him. I thought he was great. Funny what money can do to a person. It's brainwashing..." Haruka laughed again, tears still trickling down her face like a leaky faucet. "And I may not be able to get him, but I can get what's left." The last chuckle that escaped Haruka's lips was truly horrifying, Rin noticed. More horrible then any noise that Rin had been greeted by.

And when there was suddenly the barrel of a gun pointed towards her, Rin felt her heart stop.

Her tongue went dry and her whole body felt cold at the sight of the pistol being held at her, Haruka holding it with lose hands, as if toying around with Rin, showing the young girl that she could press the trigger at any time. Her heart hammered in her chest, cold sweats breaking out in her forehead, her stomach churning painfully.

"No...You wouldn't..." Was all Rin could muster, her eyes still on the deadly weapon in front of her. Haruka just chuckled for the umpteenth time.

"I have nothing to lose, Hoshizora. Why shouldn't I take you down with me?" It was by this time that Rin saw that there was truly something wrong with Principal Minami. Something about the Takashi's had pushed her past the point of no return, something about the dark side of the world corrupted even the most innocent, loving people.

"...Where's the bright side of the dark side?"

"Huh?" Was all Haruka could say dumbly at the cryptic sentence before the door burst open, revealing multiple police officers, each holding their own guns up at Minami.

"Minami Haruka, you're coming with us."

Hoshizora Rin looked out the window wistfully, the night air blowing against the leaves of the tall trees, causing the few brave souls outside to visibly shiver.

She wondered about the people who walked the streets. What were their stories? Who were they? Did they have any importance to the world? Or did they just fade into the background? Rin chuckled to herself. She really hadn't changed at all, she still asked far too many questions.

It had been years since the shutting down of Otonokizaka, the school for Talented Youth. Minami Haruka had been charged for multiple crimes such as fraud, but Rin had decided not to press charges for the attempted murder, since she was pretty sure that at the end of the day, Haruka most likely wouldn't have actually gone through with shooting Rin.

Her friends had scattered across Japan. Kotori and Umi had recently had their wedding and were currently honeymooning out in America. Everyone had gathered their, so Rin had the opportunity to catch up with her friends.

Kotori had actually became a teacher, which was something Rin should have expected. Nobody else did, but Rin assumed it was because she wanted to keep the small shred of connection between herself and her mother, because it had been rather awful for the brunette to deal with her mom being locked away in prison.

The girl had been rather furious with Rin during the aftermath of it all. They had fought for a few months, and their relationship had been rather rough, but they had patched it up at the end of it all. They were all stuck being Tulips together, anyways.

Even though Minami had been locked away, the school ended up finishing for that year before officially shutting down. A new principal had stepped in, and a new math teacher, since all of the Takashi's involved in the great scam had been imprisoned as well. Including Honoka's favorite math teacher, unfortunately for her.

Umi had partnered with Eli to run the blond's father's electronic company. They had branched out the business and transformed it into a electronics and video game company, Umi handling the technology while Eli crafted the games. It was extremely successful, and Rin even used the majority of their equipment. Including the video games.

Nozomi had become the lead artist in the video game half of the company, obviously. Even if she wasn't even a good artist, Rin could guarantee that Eli would make her the lead artist anyway, since Eli was too kind to do anything else. So it didn't hurt that Nozomi was an extraordinarily talented drawer. Her and Eli, of course, were still very much in love that it nearly made Rin puke every time she saw them together. Especially when they were on a double date with Kotori and Umi.

Nico and Maki were the idol duo to be feared. Nico's beautiful singing and Maki's piano playing had rocked the world and they were currently one of the most popular idol groups in Japan. It wasn't a surprise to Rin, of course. They were talented. Amazingly, so. And yet they still found ways to be around, Nico always bragging about their success and their love, with Maki blushing in the background.

Hanayo had moved on in the dancing world, Honoka cheering her on along the way, since Honoka didn't really know what to do with her life. Sure, swimming was her talent, but Honoka wasn't really sure if that was the path she wanted to take. And Rin respected that. You didn't have to pursue something just because you were talented at it.

Practice made perfect, anyways.

And so, the wedding uniting Kotori and Umi had reunited all the friends. Unsurprisingly, Nozomi had been Kotori's maid of honor while Maki had been Umi's maid of honor, the rest of the group being the bridesmaids. Except for Rin, no, Kotori thought it would be funny if Rin would be the ring bearer.

So she agreed. Of course, she feigned discomfort and argued with her close friend, just because that was who she was. It was a little odd, since Rin was neither young nor was he a boy, but it was a great wedding regardless.

Though, it was a little painful for Rin. Since the clashing between Kotori and her, along with the make up, she had been harboring a large crush on the brunette. The feelings didn't want to die away, so it seemed like another unrequited love story for Rin. The ginger wasn't sure how the brunette did it, she had gotten herself, Eli, and Umi to fall for her without even knowing it.

And there was no way the ginger was going to say something at the wedding. Kotori and Umi were so obviously in love, and the brunette, along with everyone else, were completely oblivious to Rin's feelings. Who would? Nobody could possibly think that Rin was capable of falling in love, let alone falling in love with Kotori. Most people would assume that she would have fallen for Honoka, due to their close relationship.

A sigh escaped the ginger's lips as the pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket. She unfolded it, and a small smile played at her lips. It was a wedding invitation to Honoka and Hanayo's own wedding that was taking place in a few months. The two had eagerly requested for Rin's help in the wedding, and of course Rin had done it. The two were idiots, but they were her best friends.

So many things had happened in those few years. It was crazy, really, but it had happened. You couldn't change the past.

Rin set down the paper on her desk when she heard a knock at her door. Automatically she took a seat at her desk and straightened her black tie, wearing her normal black suit that she took with her to work.

"Come in." She called out calmly. In walked three people, two of which currently had their hands interlocked affectionately. Rin decided to ignore it for professional purposes and motioned to the multiple seats in front of her. "Please, take a seat."

The smaller woman in front of the obviously dating duo nodded and took a seat, her two friends taking seats beside her.

"Hello, my name is Kira Tsubasa, and these are my two friends Yuuki Anju and Toudou Erena. We have a rather large problem we would like you to look into." The brunette explained as she ran a hand through her locks.

Rin nodded. "Pleasure to meet you. If you do not know me already, my name is Hoshizora Rin. Private Detective."

 **LA FIN!**

 **Do you like my French?**

 **And that, ladies and gents, is the end of the book. Ninety One Thousand Words is a good place to end it, I do believe, and I'm sure you have plenty of questions that may or may not be unsolved.**

 **Who really is Rin's Aunt?**

 **What ever happened to the Takashi's and Minami after prison?**

 **Did Rin ever really meet her father like she promised him?**

 **Rin is really a Takashi?**

 **What is Kotori's Talent? Really, because I don't even fucking know myself. I searched through the book but I just couldn't find it nor remember, that's why I made her a teacher lol.**

 **What happened to all the talented children?**

 **WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE RIN FALL IN LOVE WITH KOTORI AT THE END YOU STUPID BITCH?!**

 **Haha. I'm sure a lot of you are thinking that. I did it because I wanted to, really. I thought it would be interesting. Rin's life is pretty sour, still after all that drama, unrequited love and small contact between her friends. Though, Kotori does not like her back! No, no, no her and Umi are very happy lemme tell you. I just thought it would be fun to right.**

 **Now for a few intersting facts about this novel:**

 **Eli and Kotori were never intended to fall in love. That was on a whim.**

 **This was never supposed to be a mystery novel. I had made Mr. Takashi a completely random character and originally the Takashi's never even existed. There was never supposed to be a big scam nor. I literally came up with the mystery as I went. And I'm pretty happy with how it came out.**

 **This really was supposed to be a slice of life with Rin overcoming the odds and ruling the school.**

 **Honoka was supposed to end up with Rin before I changed my mind.**

 **Principal Minami wasn't supposed to be a character in the book.**

 **Ryuuji was suppoed to be an unimportant character, along with Rin's aunt.**

 **Now with that wrapped up, this story has come to a conclusion. I hope everyone has enjoyed, and I think I'm going to take a break from Love Live fanfiction for a while. I have my Angel's and Demons story up, but I don't really have the inspiration to write it for now, but I will come back to it.**

 **If you have any suggestions, do tell! PM me or post comments on this story and maybe I'll write a little stuff, but otherwise I'm finished with Love Live. Kind of bittersweet really.**

 **Thanks to everyone who has ever followed or favorited. I never expected this story to get this far nor have some success. Now there are surely more popular stories around, but I didn't think my story would even be noticed.**

 **Now I still encourage people to leave reviews because I am still going to read them. And please, if you have made an account and have yet to follow or favorite, please do! I would love to see this story grow more even when I'm gone, so if you haven't, please do!**

 **Thanks for everyone who I have had the opportunity to interact with. I loved going on this journey with everyone, and it has been one hell of a ride. Much love to everyone!**

 **Sincerely,**

 **ShawtyitEli**


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